Smoke Before Fire
by PenMagic
Summary: Slight Dalton AU. Dalton is a strict boarding school where rich, famous and high profile parents send their sons for both protection and an excellent education. When their peace is broken with a leak within their walls and two of the students are kidnapped, it is a race against time to retrieve their friends and restore the harmony they are so used to.
1. Chapter 1

**HELLO! If you are out there, welcome to my little story. So within the Glee fandom, a Big Bang is taking place. This means that writers are paired up with artists and betas write a story that is over a certain number of words and within a time limit. For this Big Bang, our time limit is August 1st - October 31st and our minimum word limit is 20,000 words! I will let you know the word count as we go along! And it isn't just any other Glee Big Bang! No, it is based on CP Coulter's hit fanfic Dalton! So if you haven't read the story, I cannot recommend it more. If you have read it, well you will recognise all of the characters! Except the ones that I add in, my own OCs.**

**Now, this Dalton is a little AU. This story takes place before Valentine's Day Fair so Charlie is back. I've tweaked things a little because I can as a writer, so Adam Clavell and Shane are both students there, Shane is in Windsor (much to Blaine's infuriation). Laura is also there, boarding with Merrill in Hanover temporarily after an incident occurred, which shall also be explained later.**

**Oh I'm so mean, aren't I? This is much more of a prologue chapter to get you guys used to my writing style and into the story. Enjoy and do let me know what you think!**

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**Prologue**

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The piece of paper was thinner than your normal piece of standard paper, it's tint a dark blue and faint white and black lines and barely discernible words could be traced on the blue paper. The room that these prints in blue were held, was dark, illuminated only by a small light above the blueprints. Shadows danced in the darker corners of the room where figures could barely be made out. The blueprints sat on an oak table in the middle of the room, the focal point if anyone was to enter from the sole, small door in the side of wall. The lamp shed a light on life forms that were present in the room. Three men, heavy set in build with dark clothing and hoods covering their heads, stood around the table. Their stances were defensive, no words passed between them. An air of expectation and waiting hung in the room.

The room held a stony silence that could be cut with a knife. Eyes glanced to other eyes, gazes held for seconds, bordering on feeling like minutes. The only sounds that could be heard was the occasional shuffling of feet, the movement of clothing on clothing and the heavy thunderstorm that reigned outside. The rain lashed at the roof of the small room, the wind howling in from the small cracks in the windows and door. The occasional clap of thunder and flash of light gave momentary bursts of light that illuminated the room.

The silence was broken by a rap on the door, making a hollow sound that resounded through the room like a death knell. Three heads turned towards the door that let a little light through the top of the door and the bottom where a pair of legs and feet could be seen. "It's nice weather today.

The gruff voice came from inside the room exuding confidence but apprehension. The one that replied had a slight tone of arrogance to it, the American tinge to the accent, clearly male and under the age of 21. "Yes but I always carry an umbrella just in case."

There was a grunt of approval and the door swung open silently. The fourth person who entered looked younger than the other three, around the age of 16 or 17. As soon as the door was closed, plunging the room into the darkness as before, he removed the hood of his jacket from his head, his clothes soaking wet but there was no sign of him caring. He cast an eye around the room before his eyes fell on the blueprints. His eyes widened as he recognised the buildings that were being mapped out. He stepped towards the table but was stopped with just a hand raised from the man who had spoken.

The teenager snorted but there was a slight hint of fear in his voice as he spoke. "Of course I do, do you think I'm stupid? I've been holed up in there for the last two and a half years. Is that why you've recruited me? Because I've got inside knowledge of Dalton?

One of the other men who was directly opposite the teenager unfolded his arms, slamming the palms of his hands onto the table. "What happened to discretion Blue? Who knows if there are any bugs in here, listening to this conversation?

'Blue' frowned. "You haven't bothered to scan for that kind of bugging Yellow?" There was a small snort. "That is pathetic." He looked at the three men expectantly. "So, what do you need me for?"

The man across the table, to the left of 'Yellow', nodded and the teenager approached the table. "We need to know what these buildings are, what they do and where I will be able to find two certain people."

Carefully avoiding the blueprints, the man slid a piece of paper across the table towards Blue who picked it up and frowned slightly. "These two? Are you absolutely sure you want these two? This is risking it big time Red, especially given their parents."

Red shrugged, a laughing escaping from his lips. "That's why we're going for them, we like a challenge. But we need to know security details, how to avoid all the cameras. Everything that will help us get them."

The teenager frowned and looked up from the paper. "And what do I get from it? What if they find me out? Do you know how many of the boys there will have the power to literally kill me? And if they don't, I'll be disgraced, my family's name will be blackened from the books of history."

The air of the room changed instantly and not for the better as Red vaulted across the table in one bound and slammed the teenager into the door which creaked ominously. The boy's eyes widened in fear, his hands coming up defensively as he was pinned by the lapel of his coat to the door. "You, my boy, get your life." He hissed, his eyes boring into Blue. "It's your own fault that you ended up here, if you weren't here, you would be dead along with your parents as easily as that. You won't be found out because you blend in far too well, they will never suspect you. Not for a minute. And if they do find you, you better have a good reason to cover yourself up. Because if you dare betray us…

He left the threat hanging in the air, with one hand keeping him at the door, the other went to the flap of his coat which was now being pulled back to reveal a range of knives, serrated and straight, varying in length and sharpness. All looked extremely deadly. The teenager didn't miss this move and cast his eyes downwards for a moment, widening slightly in evident fear as he locked eyes with Red once more.

The man leered at the boy, his less than minty breath pushing into the boy's face. "Do I make myself clear Blue?

Blue nodded furiously. "Yes, yes sir."

There was a snort of derision as Red let go of the teenager and nodded to the desk. "Talk fast and talk eloquently. We don't have all day and you will find out soon enough when you are no longer needed. The school is getting nosy about your 'hospital visits'."

Blue nodded and moved towards the table, his eyes scanning the prints in front of him. He was quiet for a minute, choosing his words carefully. "These three," he pointed to the three slightly larger buildings, two of which were closer together than the other, "are the House dormitories. I live in that one," he pointed to the one closest to Yellow, "and Subjects 1 and 2 reside in the other two. There and there." He pointed at the two other buildings. "The biggest building is the administration and classroom building. There is where the most security lies. There's a guy in Windsor, that's that one, I don't know him well at all but there are rumours that he's got cameras in a few places so as long as you have an IP address for him, you could take him out for a few minutes but good luck with that."

The third man snorted. "You don't know what power we have. It won't be a problem to defeat a teenager.

Blue nodded in acknowledgement but sniffed. "Never underestimate the power of the introverts Green. Now of the two subjects, 1 will be harder to get to in terms of the security cameras that cover the place but 2 has more people looking out for them. Neither of them will be easy, you shouldn't expect that. But 2 has a ground floor bedroom from what I've heard. Best to get them second as they will be easier to deal with, all dormitory windows are equipped with movement sensors which are active between 11 and 7."

The men nodded in understanding. "How do we get in? Are there security cameras around the perimeter of the school. We all know how ridiculously protective your faculty is of the place."

Blue thought for a moment before giving his reply. "I can get you the layout of all the cameras and the problems that you will face. I can't help you when it comes to getting past them but as long as you have the blueprints of all your problems, I am sure that you won't have a problem getting through."

There was a pause as the men processed this before Red nodded. "Fine. You better get them to us pronto though Blue, I want those by the end of the week. Do you understand?"

Blue nodded. "Absolutely."

Green jerked his head to the door. "You better get going Blue, the school will notice your absence soon enough. Keep a low profile and do what you do best."

Blue nodded once. "Good luck."

He turned around the left the room, leaving the ominous silence hanging in the air that he had entered to. Everything was going to plan. He wouldn't be forgotten now. No one would leave him on the side. Watch this space Dalton, he was coming to town.

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_**Word count: 1,541 words**_

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**Well, we've rather dived in at the deep end, haven't we? A traitor at Dalton and something potentially dangerous is underfoot!**

**Please do let me know what you think by leaving a review in the box below, however short or long you want it to be. And do let me know if I've made any spelling or grammar mistakes, I am getting a beta soon but I will always make mistakes, I am human after all.**

**Happy writing and until next time!**

**PenMagic x**


	2. Usual Madness

**HELLO! Thank you SO much to all those who have alerted/favourited/reviewed this story! I am so sorry that this chapter has taken so long to get up but it is here!**

**I now have a beta and an artist for the story! Huge thanks to my beta Jay for coping with my mad writing. My artist Julia has to produce three pieces based on this story and I will give you the link when we get the first piece done!**

**Anyway, we are now back on track, we find ourselves in the midst of the craziness of Dalton Academy! The official face cast list for this story is on my profile, so check it out!**

**Enjoy reading!**

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**Chapter 1**

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The wrought iron gates loomed over the ground, imposing and intimidating, and therefore serving their purpose. The several shadowy figures that could be seen behind gates made the high walls seem like more of a prison than a school. The boys, decked in blue and red blazers, moved with ease, not bothered by the security that surrounded them. Cameras watched every movement in the perimeter of Dalton Academy. The school was there for protection, the handbook claimed. To protect the sons of those who were in high positions of power all over the world and to ensure their total safety. However, the school's real nature was slightly different from the peaceful façade it boasted of.

Inside an elegant looking mansion with Tudor-style decorations, beams crisscrossing the ceiling and a gold and blue striped banner hanging from the highest rafters, a quiet serenity lay. It would have been considered normal if this was not Windsor House. But a certain teenager boy with pale skin and bright blue eyes crept out from behind one of the many closed doors that led to the entrance hall. Under his arm he held a box, a wooden chest with an unusually large padlock bolted onto the side. Gingerly, he placed the box down in the middle of the hall, right underneath the banner. He was nearly silent in his stealth, his shoes barely making a sound as he crept backwards, glancing at the Armani watch on his wrist. His lips moved but no sound came; he was counting.

Creeping back to the door, he slid just beyond the doorframe, keeping one eye outside on the box. He counted silently to ten and then smiled and turned to look. Then suddenly, he saw and heard just what he was waiting for. A voice and a shadow.

"Wes, have you seen Kurt?" Someone said. The voice trailed off and Kurt mentally crossed his finger, hopes rising even further.

A second voice joined him, slight awe in his voice. "No way, Kurt's started the game."

The first voice chuckled. "He's done a good job guarding the cookies. Who would have thought he could access that kind of security."

The second boy, Wes, paused for a second. "Do you think we should sound the alarm?"

A screeching alarm abruptly pierced through the hallways, breaking the soft silence. Immediately the halls turned into a raucous pandemonium as boys came flooding out of hallways and down the grand staircase that ran up the back of the entrance hall. Around fifty boys, all in the standard Dalton uniform, stopped when they saw the box laid innocently under the banner. Eyes widened mischievously as a pair of blonde twin boys with bright blue eyes caught sight of the box.

"Alice." One whispered as they looked at the box.

"Alice brought cookies." The other whispered.

'Alice' smiled and spoke through a walkie-talkie that echoed through the halls. "Greetings Windsor boys. Well done on finding the treasure. Now the question is how to open it and get to your prize." The Twins immediately produced bolt cutters somehow hidden in their uniform but there was a chuckle from the walkie-talkie. "No bolt cutters boys; you're on your own. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favour."

There were a few wry smiles at the Hunger Games reference but it was the raven-haired boy with gelled back curls that spoke. "Come on Kurt, why can't you just give us the cookies? Why can't you just give up for once?"

There was a wicked laugh from Kurt who had a wry grin on his face. "Oh Blaine, even you know that the Windsor rules of Finder's Keepers doesn't work like that."

As soon as the words had left his mouth, a sophomore ran forward with something in his hand. "Here let me take a look at it," he said, kneeling down beside the chest.

He was followed soon by the senior in charge who crossed his arms over his chest and sight. "Dwight, are you sure you know what you're doing?"

The sophomore rolled his eyes and snorted. "Of course I know what I'm doing Charlie, stop being such a worrier." He produced a paper clip and unfolded it. "Kurt said nothing about paper clips."

There was an audible groan from behind the door but no response and so Dwight, smirking gleefully, started to fiddle with the lock. The rest of the boys looked on with bated breath, waiting and watching. After a minute, there was a cheer from the small boy who held up the padlock triumphantly. "Game over Alice, nice work but not quite enough to keep us out."

A cheer rose up from the Windsor gallery as Kurt Hummel came out of his hiding place, watching as Dwight opened the chest and grabbed the Tupperware box of chocolate chip cookies that the boys had come to love almost as much as they loved him.

"VICTORY!" He shouted at the top of his lungs and raced towards the common room. A hoard of boys rushed after him but Blaine stood to the side, smiling beside Kurt.

Wordlessly, Kurt produced a small Tupperware box of cookies and offered one to Blaine who took a large one with a smile. "Knew you'd keep some spare." He spoke after the noise had moved into the common room.

Kurt smirked. "I've been here far too long Blaine, I know to leave some for those who are willing to wait." He jerked his head towards the stairs. "You want to go and finish the rest of that movie we started last night?" Blaine's smile was enough of an answer and so the boys moved away, letting the pandemonium that usually rested in Windsor House stay away from them.

It was not until another half an hour had passed that shadowy figures appeared in the grounds of Dalton, moving towards the buildings. The voices of the Windsor Warblers rose up as Kurt's lilting voice unknowingly carried the sound from the kitchen. Some epic bass from David and the Twins tried, and ultimately failed, to top Kurt's countertenor notes, supplemented his natural harmonisation of The Buggles' 'Video Killed The Radio Star'. Blaine smiled as he sang just under Kurt's range, echoing the complaints of a world being taken over by modern technology. Kurt's voice soared happily as he finished making his cup of coffee, hitting the last note effortlessly as he topped off the cup of coffee and kissed Blaine affectionately on the cheek.

He turned unflinchingly as an explosion suddenly rocked the building, taking care to balance his coffee cup before simply rolling his eyes and throwing an extinguisher towards a junior with spiky hair who raced out of his room milliseconds before another explosion rocked the first floor. "Why have I grown used to that?" He asked as he and Blaine walked out of the corridor and into the entrance hall, cups of coffee in hand.

The raven-haired boy smiled with a shrug. "People get used to things like that pretty quickly around here."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "'Things like that' pretty much everything that goes on in Windsor?"

Blaine laughed. "Pretty much." His gaze darted down to the wristwatch Kurt had given him for Christmas. "Come on, we better get to class. Newman was threatening a pop quiz AND an extra paper as well as detention if a single one of us was late."

Kurt shuddered delicately. "Then let me help us reduce that possibility." He took a deep breath and Blaine, sensing that if he didn't do something soon that his eardrums might burst, covered his ears. "THOMAS DWIGHT HOUSTON AND REED ALEXANDER VAN KAMP! IF YOU TWO DON'T GET DOWN HERE IN TEN SECONDS - "

The rest of the sentence didn't need to be finished as the sophomore hunter and junior fashionista were at the top of the stairs in a flash, the former with a frown on his face. "I swear if you call me by my full name publicly again Hummel, I will bring my crossbow instead of class notes."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "The one that the faculty doesn't know about for a reason?"

Dwight merely shrugged but Kurt saw the fire in the young boy's eyes and nodded, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Fine, whatever you say. Let's just go before we give Newman an excuse to eat us alive."

Their messenger bags, of varying degrees of neatness, flapped against their legs as the four hurried across the grounds, shoes clacking against the gravel paths that separated the award-winning gardens from the laws and helped boys cut routes in the labyrinth of a school they attended.

They slowed their pace as they entered the main building, composed of the classrooms and the facilities resided in by the teachers who chose to remain on campus. The teachers' quarters were barred to all students and even the daring Brightman twins wouldn't go near those doors. It was practically a death sentence if you were even within breathing distance of there.

"Kurt! Blaine!" The four boys turned to see the choirmaster, Greg Harvey, walking over with a small smile on his face. The four boys stood respectfully as he looked down at them, despite Kurt and Dwight being nearly his height. "I hear you two have been working on a potential dueling number for the fair next month."

Blaine flashed the choir director his trademark smile. "We don't want to come to a Warbler rehearsal unprepared sir."

Harvey nodded in approval. "Well I mustn't hold you from getting to class but I expect something spectacular when the duel comes. Reed," He turned to the other Warbler. "Are you thinking of entering?"

The smaller boy smiled with a small nod. "I know I may not stand a chance but if there is an offer for a duel, then I would be a fool not to take it."

Harvey nodded again. "Good lad." He nodded his head towards the crowds of students filing silently through the halls. "Don't be late for class gentlemen."

The four boys murmured their thanks before moving away. Kurt raised an eyebrow as they headed into the classroom, a count of heads told him that there was one person who, if they didn't arrive in the next fifteen seconds, was going to land them all in huge trouble.

As he slipped into his seat, painfully aware of the clock's countdown that would announce Mr. Newman's entrance and the start of the class, he glanced towards Blaine.

"Where's Mikey?" He hissed under his breath.

Mikey Campbell, the resident sports columnist in the student newspaper and occupant of Hanover House, was the cause of approximately 70% of the detentions they were graced with. It wasn't that he tried to be late, he just couldn't help it. According to him, at least.

The door was flung open and there was a general deep sigh of relief as the Hanover rushed in, his hair all spiked up and books clutched haphazardly under his arm. He slid into his seat at the last possible moment as their teacher strode into the room, the bell ringing briefly. They could have heard a pin drop in the room as he frowned at the blonde Hanover for a moment. Were they going to suffer again or had they just escaped the jaws of detention?

After a moment's pause, the teacher turned around and an almost audible sigh of relief escaped the lips of the class. "Take out the essays I set you last week. Van Kamp, collect them."

As Reed stood up, taking his own essay from his bag, Kurt sat back, offering a small smile to his boyfriend. They had escaped the jaws of strict discipline this time. Who knows if they would be lucky next time?

..

As class ended for the day, boys split from the classrooms in every possible direction. A tall brunette waiting outside caught the eye of one of them, gesting him over to stand by the wall.

"Justin." The pair wandered away from the busy hall and out one of the many side doors.

"How goes Hanover, Spencer?" The taller boy smiled slightly. "Any problems?"

Spencer snorted. "In Hanover when you're king? Not likely. Laura still wants to go to sophomore classes, says that freshman classes are boring."

Justin snorted, rolling his eyes. "Of course she does; she's bored because she doesn't know any of them except Oliver. And Laura will only sit still and read for so long."

Spencer shrugged as they walked towards an elegant building that looked like a miniature castle, complete with ivy trailing up the marble white columns and spilling towards the balconies above. He could see the occasional dart of Justin's eyes from side to side as they walked inside, the slight twitch in his hands.

"What's the matter?" Spencer broke the silence after a second, waving away the boys who were loitering in the lobby. "What's going on?"

Justin sighed, one of annoyance more than anything. "Riley just happened to mention that House Head's are doing checks today."

Spencer sighed and rolled his eyes. "Really? On a Friday, when people are planning on going home?"

Justin shook his head. "Just send the message around. We have fifteen minutes to get this boat in tip-top shape for inspection." His voice darkened slightly. "And every single member of the house will be present."

Spencer nodded quickly, knowing better than to contradict the fiery Englishman. "Yes sir." He mock-saluted before moving away. There wasn't much work to do but it needed to be done.

Still in the building, a tall junior walked with his head held high, the hints of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. On the ground floor of the main building, he passed through a side door and out into the main courtyard where many of the boys he was in charge of, looked up from whatever they were doing. A few even stood ip out of respect for their fearless leader.

He looked over, a mental headcount speeding through his head. "We have a house inspection in 15 minutes. I want it perfect, and you all need to be in top condition." He spoke without the need to raise his voice, total command seeping through in his tone. "I expect everyone to be there."

A boy raised his hand and stood, catching the prefect's eye. "Riley, we're missing Russ and Terry."

Riley cursed under his breath. "Isaac, get them. Now." Another boy stood up and ran off, typing rapidly into his phone as he went. "Anyone else missing, needs to be present at Lancaster in 12 minutes, I will meet you there in ten." He called over his shoulder as he strode calmly away. "Don't be late."

Moments later, a furious blonde stormed towards the elegant white building that housed his own members. His face was curled in disgust, a frown creasing his brow and his eyes narrowed as he tried to keep his composure. Why couldn't they give them a little more time? It wasn't as if the problem was with the tidiness of the house, that was all Windsor's problem. It wasn't even that he would have to rush and pick up the rest of the common room himself. It was that the administration expected him to have every member of the house present, immediately.

Throwing the door open and ignoring the crash that resounded through the entrance hall, he stormed into the common room. Silence fell as people glanced to their prefect and then quickly looked away, not wanting to incur his wrath. The click of his shoes could be heard on the polished floor as the blonde glared at everyone in sight, save for the boy who was frowning at his friend.

"Calm down Logan before you explode at one of the freshman." The boy held out his hands as if surrendering. "Speak quickly and _calmly_."

The tall blonde took a deep breath, directing his harsh glare at the boy. "I'm the Prefect Derek, you can't tell me what to do."

Derek merely rolled his eyes. "I can when said Prefect is going to destroy the property he's supposed to be in charge of."

Logan huffed angrily. "We've got about ten minutes now until Murdoch is doing a dorm inspection."

"Ugh." Derek shuddered. "But what's the problem?"

Logan grabbed his iPad from the desk, flipped it open and tossed it to Derek, who caught it easily. "That's why. How do you expect me to get 35% of Stuart back in here in ten minutes and make sure their rooms are neat enough to pass Murdoch's inspection?"

And there Derek had to admit, Logan had a point. As studious and neat the Stuart occupants were, they did have a tendency to run for the hills on Friday, hen surprisingly no one was in a good mood. "Call Justin and have him kick Nick out of Jeff's room. And for that matter, get any other Stuarts out of Hanover. I'll call Riley and see if anyone's around Lancaster."

Logan looked at his friend. "And anyone who isn't here?"

Derek smirked. "If there are no students hanging around, someone's bound to figure out that there's someplace to be, and if we add a message from you to that I guarantee that we'll have the whole house back here in under five minutes, tops. No one wants to risk your wrath, dear Prefect."

Logan merely huffed and stalked towards the stairs before pulling out his phone to send a message to the entirety of Stuart House. If this didn't work, Murdoch was going to eviscerate him.

Across campus, Charlie Amos was running for his life to his house, the prospect of failing yet another inspecting driving his feet forward as fast as he could go. He directed every Windsor he saw to head back to the house immediately, pausing to grab one sophomore boy by the shoulder and shook him urgently.

The boy jumped but relaxed as soon as he saw who it was. "Charlie, do you really need to scare me like that?"

"Sorry, sorry," Charlie was tripping over his words, "I didn't meant to sneak up on you or anything. It's just we have a house inspection in twenty minutes and I need you to contact all the freshmen, make sure they're in the house. We need to get the place cleaned up, and fast."

Todd nodded. "Got it Charlie, I'll see what I can do." He turned away and then hesitated before speaking again. "Um, we might have our work cut out for us in Windsor."

Charlie face-palmed, a glower spreading across his face. "Exactly how much work cut out for us Todd?"

Todd looked sheepish. "Drew and Satoru were mixing stuff in the kitchen and I might have overheard the Twins planning something?"

There was nothing except an exasperated groan from Charlie as he sighed, nodding a quick thanks, then picked up the pace and sprinted back to Windsor.

He prayed that Todd was wrong, and that for once there wouldn't be much work to tidy up the house in an impossible time. But this was Windsor and the chances were very slim indeed. He just hoped that whatever it was his housemates were planning, they could get rid of it before Harvey arrived and that it wasn't so big as to make things even harder on him. But that probably wouldn't happen. After all, it would take something monumental to make things much worse than they were right now.

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**What did you think? Was the portrayal of the characters fairly accurate? Please let me know what you think and I hope you enjoyed it!**

**See you next week and happy writing!**

**PenMagic x**


	3. It's Too Normal And That's Worrying

**HELLO! I am so sorry that this took so long! My beta has been ill but he's better now so managed to get around to completing the Beta for this chapter!**

**I hope you remember what has happened next and do let me know what you think!**

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**Chapter 2**

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Several of the dozens of digital clocks situated around the room blinked brightly, informing the owner of the room that it was nearly 3 o'clock in the morning. Screens were decked on almost every available surface, and a light layer of cool mist settled on the floor like an extra carpet. It felt like the whole room had been dimmed. The weak lamplight from above cast tall, Spiderman-shaped shadows over everything, because really, no one could pass up on a vintage Tobey Maguire lampshade, and the figures on the wall-taped posters seemed to dance alongside them.

On one wall in particular, countless posters covered the Dalton regulated cream coloured walls. At the bottom of the wall, right where the wall hit the ground, a small mattress laid. Not even the bed frame could fit in the gamer's room, just the four-inch mattress, a thick duvet and a small pillow, upon which a small head rested. Glasses rested just to the side of the mattress, halfway hidden by the mist. The small frame that lay curled on the mattress was at peace; Hansel Westwood was getting the best night's sleep he had had in ages. Not that it was normal for Han to go to sleep. The internet never slept. Why should he? But it had to stop, at least for a few nights a year, right? And today he had been feeling particularly exhausted. His normally messy room had been tidied just for the dorm inspections and had only just been passed.

The boy slept lightly, his eyes fluttering every so often in REM as he slept. Dreams fluttered as his body rested from a day of occasional assignment handed in to teachers and several TV marathons all at once. Such was the tough life of a high school gamer. The screen flickered every so often, although the corner of the room nearest to the bay window held screens that were mostly back, with only occasional flashes indicating that the grounds of Dalton were being monitored. If Han was anything, he was observant, and kept an eye out for his fellow Windsors.

A gentle beep from one of the screens was enough to wake the junior, who jumped up as if he had never been asleep in the first place, spinning his chair towards the CCTV cameras. The screen in the top left-hand corner was glowing red. Bringing it up on the main screen with a single keystroke, Han squinted his eyes as he looked at the screen. The particular camera covered the entrance to Dalton, the high-rise gates and barbed wire making the walls almost impenetrable. Was it his imagination, or could he see a figure on their side of the gate? One that certainly wasn't wearing Dalton uniform? Han blinked, all to ready to imagine that this was all a dream, and that he had mistaken a mere wandering sleepwalker for a threat.

Okay, he really needed to get more sleep. When he reopened his eyes, the figure was no longer there. He passed it off as remnants left over from his dream; he was most definitely imagining things. The light was no longer flickering red, and while there was a low beep emanating from somewhere else, he easily dismissed it. Some of his technology was getting old; it was time for an upgrade. He could speak to the Twins in the morning about Dalton sleepwalkers. They were often out at night and knew the boys who suffered from such maladies anyway. Clicking in a few commands, he saved the footage and stored it on his desktop, for safekeeping. He had a feeling it might come in handy at some point.

His body still exhausted and with four hours worth of sleep before his incessant alarm woke him up, Han collapsed into bed, his head hitting the pillow and sleep consuming him almost immediately. He had to speak to the Twins in the morning, he reminded himself. For some reason, something still didn't feel right. It was the last thought he had before he blacked out.

Boys blearily stumbled out of bed as alarms rang throughout all four houses. Sleep was rubbed from eyes as pajamas were exchanged for uniform, homework was scrounged from all four corners of rooms and crammed into bags before doors opened and the thought of a decent breakfast was enough incentive to make the boys travel that little bit faster.

Kurt fought the urge to yawn as he collected his tray of grapefruit and muesli before heading over to the table he and the other Windsors occupied. He already held three cups of coffee on his tray, all lukewarm and the same generic white Styrofoam. He glared at his friends as he plunked his tray down.

"I still hate you guys for putting this all on me." David stifled a laugh as Kurt took a delicate sip of the first cup and made a face. "Do you know how awful cold coffee tastes? And there is a limit on the number of coffee cakes I enjoy making."

Blaine flattened his boyfriend's hair, which was slightly unruly, with a gentle smile. "It's because they love you. I love you enough to know better."

Kurt smiled slightly and nudged Reed, who was in danger of falling asleep into his full English breakfast. It did nothing so Kurt whispered into his ear; "Sarah Burton just walked through the door."

It had the desired effect as reed jumped out of his seat, his eyes wide, his tray only just caught by Shane on his other side. "What? Where?" With no Sarah Burton in sight and a smirking Kurt next to him, Reed put the pieces together and huffed, settling back down. "Come on Kurt, what was that for?"

Kurt nodded to his cuff links that had been dangling precariously near his food. "You don't want to fall asleep and ruin those Winston cuff links, now do you?" Reed flushed and pulled his hands into his lap, the other boys looked amused as they continued to eat.

"Twins?" The quiet voice made all of them jump, and they looked rather stunned to see Han in his uniform, scruffy, but present. He looked exhausted, as if he had been up all night, and his glasses were askew.

The Twins looked at their friend with curiosity and slight confusion. "What's worrying you, Caterpillar?" Ethan asked after a moment.

Evan scooted to the left to give the young boy space to sit down. "What's up? Come on, tell all."

The boy paused before sitting down cautiously, not used to so many people in the same place. Kurt offered him a smile, as did Reed, both boys knowing that he was feeling uncomfortable. After a pause, Han said; "To your knowledge, how many boys in this school sleepwalk?"

Both boys twitched slightly, because of course, they knew the answer but it wasn't the most conventional question to ask. They looked at each other, mentally calculating."

"There are four from Hanover." Ethan stated.

"Seven from Stuart but a few more go out to clear their heads and three from Windsor." Evan finished. "Why?"

Han pulled out his iPhone and showed the boys a picture of the figure he had seen last night. He'd checked the footage; the person had definitely been there. He hadn't been dreaming. "Do you recognise who that is? I know the picture is grainy, but even I can't get great visuals at 3 o'clock in the morning."

Ethan took the phone and studied it with Evan peering over his shoulder before they both shook their heads slowly. "No, I can't say for sure but it might be Sean Powell."

"Stuart sophomore," Evan added, "very infrequent sleepwalker but it isn't impossible."

He took the phone from his twin and studied the picture a bit more. "It sort of looks like him, but we can't see the face, and he looks a little tall for Sean. Do any of you guys recognise him?"

The phone went around the other six boys seated at the table, each offering their own opinions. "The build is right for Julian but the hair looks too dark." Wes commented.

David shook his head. "What about Danny? Or Isaac?"

Whoever it was, they were apparently unrecognisable. Han took the phone back gratefully. "The weird thing is…" he murmured, "whoever it was, they were only there for a second, and by the time I had blinked, he was gone. It just doesn't make sense."

"Are you coming to class today Han?" David asked as he munched on a piece of toast.

Han snorted with derision. "Are you kidding me? You can't expect me to leave the cameras alone for that long after this, especially for class. I'll keep an eye out for the guy again and keep you all updated." He stood up and snatched the apple off David's plate before sprinting away, leaving the Windsors to chuckle and shake their heads over him.

It wasn't until breakfast time was almost over that any other commotion appeared in the cafeteria. "Justin!"

The call came from the door and many heads turned at the abnormally loud voice of Danny Abbott, who looked rather disheveled. His eyes were wide as he looked around the cafeteria, searching for his friend and prefect. Kurt caught his eye and nodded his head at the corner where Justin was sat with his back turned to the rest of the cafeteria and oblivious to Danny's entrance. Danny barely nodded his thanks to Kurt before racing across the cafeteria, nearly knocking down several boys in his path.

Windsors were known for their curiosity, their gazes followed the brown haired junior as he stopped at Justin's table, his face creased with worry. Although it was hard ot hear him from so far away it was clear that he was speaking in low tones and trying to keep others from overhearing him. But it was Justin's response that intrigued them the most. The boy, who was known for his composure and ability to work well under pressure, paled and stood up from the table immediately, hurrying out of the cafeteria with Danny, both leaving as quickly as Danny had entered.

Shane blinked and tilted his head. "What on earth was that all about?"

There were a few shrugs. "I have no idea." Blaine murmured, his eyes darting to the remaining Hanovers who were whispering among themselves with anxious glances. "But I don't think it can mean anything good."

Blaine couldn't have been more accurate, but it was at least another hour or so until they found out just how bad it was. An alarm pierced the air, ringing throughout the school, one that could not be ignored even by the deepest sleepers among them. Looking up from their attempted hot chocolate in the kitchen of Windsor House, Ethan and Evan blinked in surprise horror, immediately dropping their cups and grabbing for each other.

Inside his holy water salt line in his corner of the room, Dwight whipped around to stare at the ceiling where the alarm was incessantly ringing, before turning to look at his roommate Todd who had snapped his pen in shock.

From the senior extra-curricular class of the yearbook committee, Charlie's eyes widened as he and the five other boys in the committee stood, knowing all too well what the alarm meant.

In Warbler Hall, Blaine and Kurt looked up from where they had been practicing a duet for the impending duels, Kurt freezing in confusion while Blaine flinched and closed his eyes, willing for the noise to stop.

As if it were clockwork and natural, every boy in the school dropped what they were doing and ran. Not towards the gates of Dalton or towards any of their classrooms or teachers but towards their houses. If Windsors knew how to do anything, it was how to respond quickly to distress calls. And this was one that could not be ignored. Those within the various houses rushed down to the entrance hall, and those in the various buildings across campus to the four buildings that they trusted would keep them safe.

Riley stood under the banner of Lancaster as his boys race towards the house and those in the house, waiting with the others already there as they silently prayer for the rest of their friends to appear. He didn't have as many boys to look after, as half of them had gone home yesterday after the dorm inspection, but there were still too many left to feel responsibility for. And too many of these boys had gone through emergency procedures already, alarms like these were the price of rich and famous parents. Each boy stood with their year, the occasional murmurs passing through the ranks.

When he had done a mental head count of the number of boys present, he grabbed the scanner that stood by the door, ready to receive confirmation of the presence, or perhaps lack thereof of any Lancaster boy. He looked up at the boys and cleared his throat twice. Silence fell.

Riley swept the group with his piercing blue eyes, his gaze never betraying his inner turmoil. The boys looked to him as their leader and he took the position with a grave sincerity. "I'll explain all in a moment, but right now I need to take a register, starting with the freshmen. Dustin."

The tanned boy with small eyes and light brown hair nodded from the back of the room. "Here"

Riley nodded with satisfaction and went down the list, quickly checking off names. There were exactly fifty boys who had chosen to remain at Lancaster over the weekend. Still too many, too many people to keep track of. As he ticked off the last name on the list, himself, he nodded with a smile, his racing heart finally starting to slow down.

Satisfied that everyone was here, he looked at his boys, his face set in a grim flat line as the boys stared back at him with uncertainty. They had no idea what was going on.

Riley bit his lip before he spoke. "The alarm has been raised because we have reason to believe that one of the members of Dalton Academy has been kidnapped."

Immediately the boys started to talk, the freshmen wide-eyed and horrified whereas the seniors looked uncomfortable, their eyes darting to each other nervously. Riley coughed and the boys fell silent, though it wasn't the same silence as he'd commanded before.

He looked around. "I need to contact Charlie, Logan and Justin to make sure that our claim is real and to establish who is missing and then who is responsible." He took out his phone and turned his back as the boys started to converse again in hushed whispers, dialing a number with a frown creasing his brow with worry. "Charlie."

The Windsor Prefect picked up almost immediately. "Riley, have you done the check?"

Riley nodded, even though Charlie couldn't see him. "Of course. We're all present and correct."

There was a sigh of relief from the other end of the line. "Thank goodness, we're all good here. Took a couple of the boys a while, scared me half to death. Have you heard from Logan and Justin?"

Just then both phones vibrated, alerting them to an incoming Facetime call. Riley switched over immediately and the faces of his fellow Prefects graced his small screen. His breath hitched as he saw the look on Logan's face and the fact that it was Danny on the Hanover line instead of Justin said everything.

"All clear at Lancaster." He murmured.

Charlie echoed his words. "Who's missing Logan?"

The boy shook his head, anger and terror crossing his face. "Bailey." He muttered and Riley didn't miss the small gasp from Charlie as well as the stricken faces from the boys who could hear the call. "He's always one of the first people back, and no one's seen him since this morning."

Charlie spoke immediately. "Did he leave for the weekend?"

Logan shook his head. "He never does, and he would have told me if he had." He covered his hands with his face. "How on earth did anyone get past Stuart security?"

Riley could have sworn he heard something along the lines of 'the Twins manage it with ease' from Charlie but he didn't comment, instead looking to Danny. "Why are you on the line, Danny? Who has Hanover lost?"

Danny gulped, his eyes glistening and wet. "Laura."

* * *

**Ah, now were you expecting that? If you had seen the wonderful art from wickedwillow on tumblr then you might have been able to guess that!**

**All of this story is also on tumblr, I'm url ichosethefandomlife so do come and follow me!**

**Please let me know what you think and how this turn of events will affect our beloved boys! I've only got 14 days to finish this, no pressure! I've got ahead of myself so I should be able to hit the 20,000 word mark!**

**Happy writing!**

**PenMagic x**


	4. Good Cop, Bad Cop

**Hey! So here we have the next chapter! I've actually got almost all of the chapters written, I'm in the middle of writing the penultimate chapter (I think) but I've got a few lined up for my Beta to edit before then! This story is going to be 11 chapters long and we should be getting all of them up in time for the Big Bang deadline which is next Friday!**

**Props to Julia and Jay who are my amazing artist and Beta, they are totally awesome! Also, usual disclaimer, I don't own any of the characters! All rights to Glee creators and CP Coulter!**

**Just to let you know, at the end of the chapter, the loads of different speech things are from different boys at Dalton. Props and brownie points if you know who each one is! Feel free to guess!**

**Enjoy this one and PLEASE let me know what you think!**

* * *

Danny was panicking. Not that that particular feat was uncommon; sometimes Dalton just did that to you. But here he was, thrown into the most demanding job a Dalton student could have. And Justin was out of the picture, trying to process the news, he was in charge of Hanover. Here he was thinking that they'd had a chance of a quiet year, and now he was in the middle of a meeting to discuss kidnapping and old rivalries. And of course, Windsor and Stuart were going at it like any other day at Dalton.

Charlie was trying to pacify Logan who was fuming. "Logan, are you kidding me? We may not like Stuart, but no one in Windsor would ever put any Dalton student at risk, not for some petty rivalry. And none of that is applicable here, trust me." He added as Logan opened his mouth to presumably talk about the usual catastrophes Windsor dished out.

Riley rolled his eyes and nodded curtly to Danny, who smiled slightly back. "Then why hasn't anyone from your house been taken, huh Windsor? Why would someone from Stuart or Hanover target one of their own?" Logan shot back, stepping towards him.

Charlie snorted. "Oh so you think that I would willingly orchestrate the kidnapping of my best friend's younger sister? Because when you accuse Windsor, Logan, you're accusing me and trust me when I say I do not take kindly to false accusations."

Danny stepped in quickly. "It might have escaped your notice, but Lancaster managed to come through unscathed also."

Riley snorted. "Gee Danny, that's a great help."

Danny looked uncertainly at the three house heads. He had no power here; he was standing in and they knew it. So he swallowed and spoke again. "And…and for the record, Justin doesn't blame any of you for Laura's disappearance. He just wants her home, safe and sound."

Riley nodded, glad that Danny had mentioned being forgiven. "We just want both of them back safely. And Logan," he reasoned with the furious blonde, "Bailey is pretty much the only Stuart that most of Windsor can stand. Your weird friendship with Hummel doesn't count. They tolerate, and honestly, often hate you, but they like Bailey. Now why would a house that has that level of respect for Bailey and a lot of respect for Hanover in general and therefore Laura by proxy, want to kidnap these two?" Danny looked at his fellow leaders. "May I suggest something?"

Charlie flopped down in one of the nearby seats, his head in his hands. "Be my guest Danny. You're the only sane in here."

Logan frowned at Charlie's remark but sunk into a chair. Riley nodded curtly as he grabbed a chair as well, taking out his notebook and twirling a pen in his hand. "I would suggest that we interview our boys, find out who was where over the past week or so. Put pressure on them; make them think that we know they're guilty. That way the person who's really guilty will be pressured into admitting it."

All three boys turned towards the junior. Charlie had an eyebrow raised in surprise. Logan had his jaw dropped and Riley snorted with a smirk on his face. "Well who would have thought it, Danny wants to play dirty."

Logan smirked as well. "Well, I'd love to see Danny conducting a Good-Cop, Bad-Cop interview."

Riley shrugged. "I'd suggest we double up, tag team so that we aren't on our own. I'll go with Danny."

Logan shook his head. "No way, there's no way I'm tag-teaming with Windsor."

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, not happening. You and I stick together, Logan, Danny and Justin can tag team together."

Danny nodded, he could handle Logan if he tried and Justin would help with calming the blonde down, even under the circumstances. It was a practically perfect match. He and Charlie could play Good Cop, Logan and Riley would make excellent Bad Cops. "Anything else?"

The four looked around at each other. "The sooner we get started the better." Charlie murmured. "The faculty have been alerted, but I think they're more concerned that none of us leave the premises. As long as we leave people in charge, this shouldn't take more than 48 hours."

Logan nodded reluctantly. "Let's just hope we have that kind of time."

* * *

Boys waited in lines, the silence painful and too long drawn out. Kurt sat next to Blaine on the chairs that had been set out in the entrance hall, their fingers interlocked as they waited. The line was getting shorter and shorter. What they were being interviewed for was anyone's guess but most suspected that it had something to do with the kidnapping of Bailey and Laura. The faculty was mostly interested in alerting the authorities and looking at people on the outside but clearly the four heads of houses had had other ideas. And Kurt was both intrigued and rather nervous about what this interview entailed. Boys seemed to come out in a haze, sometimes shaken and sometimes frowning. All he knew was that it was Charlie and Riley in there and they were talking to each person together.

The door to the interview room opened and Wes came out, breathing heavily. The Prefects had started with the seniors and were working their way down through Lancaster and Windsor boys, which meant that it had to be nearly his turn now. He assumed that Logan and Justin were doing the same over at Stuart or Hanover and repressed a shudder of sympathy for the ones who had to deal with that team.

Kurt smiled at Wes instead. "How was it? What did they say?"

Wes shook his head. "Not allowed to talk about it. Just…be prepared. Neither of them are in a good mood. And you know how Charlie is when he's in a bad mood."

Kurt shuddered this time, having experienced Charlie's temper up close before. "Uh oh." Blaine murmured.

Wes shrugged. "Well anyway, it's your turn Blaine. They know you pretty well though, so I doubt it'll be much more difficult than a walk in the park."

Blaine stood up, giving Kurt a fleeting kiss. "Okay, I'll see you in a few minutes babe. Don't panic, you've done nothing wrong."

Giving a curt nod to Wes, Blaine moved past his friends and knocked on the door to the small anteroom that was serving as the interview room. "Come in."

The sharp voice sounded and Blaine turned the knob of the door and reluctantly walked inside. The room was darker than normal, a single light on overhead. A wooden table sat in the middle of the room, two chairs pulled back on the far side and one on his side. A small camera stood on a tripod at the corner of the table where it could record the whole room. Charlie sat in one of the seats, and Riley stood with his back against the wall, arms folded against his chest and eyes narrowed.

"Hey Charlie, hi Riley." Blaine's voice tried to hide his fear but it was difficult given the harsh looks on both of Prefects faces. It was strange, seeing the both of them this way, their infamous anger and hostility directed at him. He didn't like it.

Charlie forced a small smile on his face when he saw Blaine's expression. "Hi Blaine. Please sit down."

Blaine glanced from Charlie to Riley and back again as he took an uncertain seat in the chair. "What am I here for? What's going on?"

Riley sighed deeply. "You know as well as we do Blaine. There is a…well, suspicion that someone within Dalton ranks was involved in the kidnapping of Laura and Bailey."

Blaine's eyes widened in shock. "You can't be serious?" He said. "Everyone loves Laura, and Bailey is one of the most respected sophomores on campus. What makes you think that we were involved in it? Who would do that?"

Riley slammed his hand down on the table. "Don't be stupid Blaine and don't play the idiot with us! You know as well as we all do that someone can't get into Dalton without someone from the inside letting them in. So someone here has to have been responsible for it!"

Blaine leaned back in his chair slightly. "So why do the Good Cop, Bad Cop routine and freak out all the kids? The freshmen are terrified that they're going to kicked out, that they're going to be pulled away from the safety net that Dalton provides. Do you want to cause a panic and make us more vulnerable than we already are?"

Riley snorted. "There is no safety net, Blaine. People are already panicking, they're scared out of their minds. They should be scared. Now, I want you to tell me the truth. What happened that night?"

* * *

"How on earth am I supposed to know what happened? I was fast asleep! You know I fall asleep at 9pm every night! You know me Charlie!"

* * *

"You saw the data Riley, it never lies. Someone came in, but no one knows how. And I promise you I never tamper with evidence. No good can ever come out of that, trust me."

* * *

"Why would you accuse all of us of something this ridiculous, Logan? I'm innocent of any and all accusations, I swear!"

* * *

"Whether I'm to blame or not is not my decision to make, it is yours Danny. I come to you with a clear conscience. Look at me, I have nothing to hide."

* * *

"Are those some of Alice's cookies? Can we have some? Of course we didn't implement any kidnapping! Why would we do that?"

* * *

"We have been here since the beginning, it would go against every single part of us to ever hurt a member of Dalton."

* * *

"We know that you were involved in some way. We have proof! Evidence! So why don't you fess up?"

* * *

"You must be crazy, Bailey's disappearance is messing with your head. There is no way that you have any evidence at all against me."

* * *

"How...how do I know that you're not lying? You might be calling my bluff! I haven't done anything wrong and I know people who can prove that!"

* * *

"You've got nothing on me. If I wanted to kidnap or even kill either Bailey or Laura I wouldn't go as simple as snatching them in the middle of the night. And I don't, by the way. Want to kill them or kidnap them. I don't!"

* * *

"I know the law, Logan, you know I know the law as well as you do. There is no way that you have evidence; if you had anything real I'd already be in chains instead of being interrogated by a pair of high schoolers. You don't have anything."

* * *

"How long do you plan on keeping me here? I do have other engagements. You know, better things to do than speculate as to whether I might have had a hand in a kidnapping of two kids I don't care about in a school I don't care about."

* * *

"Why are you interrogating me? I'm the victim here! Danny, just because you're acting Prefect doesn't mean you can do this to me! Why would I want my own sister kidnapped?"

* * *

"You realise that I know people who can hunt you down and kill you for saying things like that. I don't like to abuse my power, Riley, none of us do, but I don't like to be threatened."

* * *

"Don't play games with us, don't you dare try to cast it off on someone else! We know, we have proof that you did it and this isn't going to stop until you admit it!"

* * *

"This isn't funny, Riley! I don't appreciate that you and Charlie would even think that I would hurt either of them. Laura is a sweetheart, and Bailey is one of the few decent people around in Stuart."

* * *

"Please! I didn't mean to hurt anyone! You have to believe me, please! No, please, don't tell anyone! I didn't have a choice! What else was I supposed to do, they said they'd kill me otherwise!"

* * *

**Oooooh, so the mole buckled! But you will have to wait until the next chapter to find out who that is!**

**Who do you think it is? Hint, the person has been mentioned in the story already!**

**Happy writing and see you all soon!**

**PenMagic x**


	5. Pounding Hearts

**Hey! Another chapter, another part in our story! We finally get to find out who is the mole! Is it who you suspected? I hope you enjoy it!**

**Please do let me know what you think in the review box.**

* * *

A stunned silence filled the small room that held three young men. The two on the far side of the desk stared in a stunned silence while the younger boy cowered under their gaze, tears starting to form at the corners of his eyes. His gaze flickered between the two leaders, who were still trying to comprehend the situation before them. Despite their insistence upon interrogating each and every one of the students, they hadn't really believed themselves. They hadn't believed that there was someone capable of doing this at Dalton Academy.

Finally the taller one spoke. "Get out of here. Leave the room as if nothing happened. We'll discuss this with the other prefects. But you've got a lot to answer for, including destroying the reputation of this school and endangering all of your classmates."

The boy stood up, nodding frantically with his shoulders hunched. He swallowed slightly before speaking. "I-I'm sorry, I really am. You don't know what they were doing to me. I would have been killed years ago if I hadn't agreed to this."

The other boy frowned. "You've got a lot to explain, we get it. Now get out before we kick you out. You've no idea what you've put upon the school and I'll be dammed if you aren't going to help us clean us up this mess. Do you understand? Don't tell anyone what happened here."

The boy nodded, slower this time, his rapid breaths slowly evening out. "It's dinner time anyway." He said. "A-And I won't tell anyone, promise." He took a deep breath before leaving the room, a small smile on his lips, trying to keep the composure.

Charlie left the room right after him, head reeling from the news. But he had a duty to perform; he had to lead the boys who were still in shock. All the boys in the hall turned towards their leader, everyone standing out of respect. He forced himself to relax slightly and glanced around, trying to appear calm and casual. "Alright, time to eat. The rest of the interviews will happen after food. Go, try not to think about it for a few hours, and come back, ready to face the facts."

The boys nodded, a few excited smiles for the thought of dinner appearing at the thought of dinner. Charlie blew the whistle around his neck and the boys fled. Now alone, he sighed as he surveyed the dark, empty hallway. Fear had crept into the halls in the few hours since the alarm had first rung. It had always been lingering in the dark corners of Dalton, but with the disappearance of Bailey and Laura, it had seeped into the hearts and minds of the boys. Fear was evident in their eyes, in their movements and the way that they spoke to each other. He wasn't the leader of the Windsor boys for nothing; he knew them well enough to tell when something was horribly wrong. And it was obvious to everyone right now that nothing was going right.

Riley came out moments later, closing the door and leaning against it, stiffly. "Well that was unexpected." He murmured. "Logan was right, of all the people in Dalton, it had to be a Windsor boy."

Charlie slammed a fist into the nearest wall, making a freshman who was passing by, jump and run for his life. "Dammit! I thought this place was safe! I thought Windsor was supposed to be the good guys!"

Riley snorted. "The good guys? This isn't Hogwarts, Charlie! You can't make Windsor out to be Gryffindor and Stuart out to be Slytherin! That doesn't make any sense, and according to Hogwarts logic Stuart would be Ravenclaw anyway. So don't you dare try and make out Windsor to be the good guys, because there are no sides in this deal. It's all of us against everyone else in this damn world, because the teachers are so busy dealing with the police that we have to band together and deal with this ourselves to get anywhere near the truth!"

Riley was shouting now, his voice rising up to the rafters where any Windsor who was still in the house, would hear him. Charlie leaned his head back against the wall and sighed. "Okay, okay, bad choice of words." He admitted. "You don't think I'm mad at him too? I'm furious; Justin is never going to trust me again. Especially since it was Laura not him." He turned to the junior who he had never completely trusted or got on with until that point. "Riley, we've never needed to be a stronger Prefect team until today."

"The staff can't know anything." Riley added as the two boys left the building, Charlie texting Danny and Logan to alert them of an emergency meeting that would happen during dinner. "They'll expel him if they find out he made this happen. The students' punishment is less severe than if the faculty find out."

Charlie nodded with a sigh. "He's going to go through a lot of stick in the next couple of days. But that's what happens." His phone rang and he picked it up on the first ring, answering with a roll of his eyes. "Yes Logan, you read it right. Don't give me grief, I'm feeling bad enough that it was a Windsor boy who helped all of this happen."

Logan's voice was torn between fury and slight glee. "Who is it? Who do I get to beat the shit out of for taking Bailey?"

Charlie smirked. "You'll have to get in line for that Logan. I can't tell you now, meet me where I told you to in the text. You can keep your senses until then, can't you?"

A sigh came from the other end of the phone. "I guess. But you and Riley better hurry up; Justin is going to be there soon. I'll see you both in a few minutes."

The phone clicked off and Charlie quickened his pace, Riley falling in step with him. They reached the cafeteria in minutes, filing into the line that lead up to the food counters and filling up their trays before weaving their way through the masses of students. Saturday evening at Dalton usually brought lots of chatter, with laughter and discussions of homework normally filled the bright, high-windowed room. But now? Now low chatter spread over the room, quiet enough that a student dropping his tray too firmly on the table caused more than a few heads to turn.

Charlie carefully balanced his plate of food and the glass of juice on the tray as he and Riley ducked their way through the boys who were milling around, finding their own seats and nodding respectfully to the two Prefects as they passed.

"Charlie!" A call came from his right, and the Windsor Prefect turned to see Danny with a hand raised. Automatically he diverted his course, maneuvering around two more tables before coming to a rest at a small table in the corner of the room. "Glad you could join us."

Charlie snorted as he put his tray down, watching the trio who were already eating. Justin looked as if he was going to faint, his cheeks pale and his eyes drawn. Logan had a glower that was paired with slightly shaking hands and a nervous twitch that had his eyes darting in circles around the room. He was on edge, they all were. Danny was perhaps the most relaxed of them all, although that wasn't saying much. Even he kept peering around as if afraid they were going to be attacked at any moment, and his dark-circled eyes and slumped shoulders indicated that he was just as stressed as the Prefects were.

Logan clenched his fists on the table as Charlie slid into a seat at the circular table and put a hand on Justin's shoulder, the Hanover just flinching slightly. "I'm sorry Justin, I am so sorry. Believe me when I say that I want to get Laura back as much as you do. We all do."

The British boy merely shook his head, running a hand through his light brown hair. "I know Charlie. This isn't your fault. None of us could have seen it coming." He said it like he was trying to convince himself of the fact too.

Riley huffed. "And that's why the faculty are going to be tightening security, and why our parents are going to flip out when they hear about this."

Justin lowered his head into his hands, trying not to make his whole body shake. "My parents already do. So do Bailey's."

Logan cut in. "I warned Josh as well."

Charlie raised an eyebrow at the infamous 'second-soloist' whose name was almost taboo. For Logan to drop the name that had caused so much pain last year was unexpected, to say the least. "Warned him? Josh is at military school, one that's pretty much the only other thing that's safer than Dalton. And Hogwarts doesn't count." He added, attempting to lighten the dour mood at the table. It worked, if only on Danny, who smiled slightly at Charlie's remark. But only slightly.

Logan shrugged. "It just made sense." His brow furrowed as he looked at Charlie. "So, Windsor. Who was it? Who do we have to kill to even all of this out?"

Charlie put his hands up in defense. "Now listen, Logan. I understand that all of us are mad at this person. But violence is not going to solve anything. Hurting him is not going to get Laura and Bailey back. You have to promise me you won't go after the guy and shake him up. He's feeling guilty enough as it is without us shoving it down his throat. We have to at least try and understand, because none of the other boys are going to slow down for a damn second to show him any kind of mercy."

"They don't have to find out." Riley butted in. "Don't you think it would be in the best interest of this person if the other boys weren't made aware of who it was? He's still got the rest of his career at Dalton ahead of him. Put a prejudice like this in place and the one place that he can go to is no longer safe, is no longer comfortable for him."

There was a pause for a moment as the boys looked at each other in thought. "Just tell us who it is." Justin murmured.

Charlie waited until there was a slight rise in the chatter, trying not to let his gaze rise across the room to the person before speaking. "Todd Hendricks."

* * *

He couldn't even look in the vague direction of the table. He knew that was where the Prefects were meeting, probably discussing what they were going to do with him. Were they going to turn him in? Were they going to take him to the cops? To the faculty? To his _classmates_?

He wanted to fear for his life. But right now he couldn't feel anything but a mounting anxiety in his gut. Did he trust the Prefects? Well, he trusted Charlie, and if Charlie trusted the others, then that would have to be good enough. If he was going to fear any of them, it would be Logan. There wasn't a person in the school, except perhaps Hummel, who didn't know and actively avoid Logan's erratic and often dangerous behavior. And that was definitely something to be scared of, even if it was someone else on the receiving end of his wrath.

He had never been the most talkative person in his friendship group, and with the events of today there was little need to talk, anyway. But he couldn't help himself as his eyes flickered once more to the table where the five boys sat.

"Are you alright, Todd?" Sean spoke to his friend after a pause. Sean Powell and Bailey were some of the few Stuarts who were on good terms with Windsors, and the sophomore was feeling the pain of the missing person in the group as much as the other three boys.

Todd shook himself, forcing his gaze back to his own table as he shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah, I guess. Just shocked, like everyone." It was as simple an answer as he could give, but it was enough. Everyone at the table could understand. After a pause he added, "I wonder what the Prefects and Danny are talking about."

The attention of the group turned to the table for a moment. "Maybe they've found the mole." Dwight murmured. "I thought that I'd exorcised the school enough to avoid this kind of thing." The hunter was unusually subdued, and notes of despair carried clear in his voice. "But I couldn't save them. I protected Windsor, but I couldn't protect the others…Why didn't any of the protection charms work on Bailey and Laura? Why didn't anything I do work?"

An awkward silence settled over the table. Dwight had taken the news worst out of all of them, and it was the first time any of them had seen him outside his room. He had holed up in his dorm that morning with a map and a pendulum and had refused to leave until Sean and Todd had come to drag him down to dinner. The others could sense that this was a sensitive topic for Dwight, but only Todd knew the full truth, the truth about Alan. Now Dwight's overwhelming guilt was just another thing for him to add to his list of sins.

"Come on, they barely ever let you come near Stuart, Dwight." Oli Snow, a Hanover freshman, offered. "And it's not your fault that Hanover washed away most of your sigils. If you really want to help now, I'm sure the Prefects will appreciate anything you do to make it easier for them."

Dwight brightened up slightly. "You think so?" He asked.

"Of course." Oli agreed. "And for now, eating is a good way to replenish your energy, so you'll be fresh when you help them later."

Sean raised an eyebrow at him, but he merely shrugged in reply. Sometimes Oli could twist words as easily as some people breathed, not necessarily as a bad thing. In any case, it was clearly making Dwight feel better, as he tucked back into their food along with the other boys. Todd let a breath out slowly, trying to regulate his speeding heartbeat. He was fine. He wasn't going to be ousted any time soon. He would get through this.

"Good evening gentlemen." The voice he dreaded to hear made the rest of the boys at the table jump a moment later, and they all hurriedly stood from their chairs. "Keep your seats guys. Todd," the sophomore frowned as his heart pounded in his chest like a judge's gavel, announcing the verdict, "Han asked me to give this to you. He said it was something to do with the Dalton Press article from 2006, about some protest that happened. I didn't quite understand what he was saying."

Todd took the piece of paper gratefully. That was strange. He hadn't talked to Han in a while; in fact, he rarely bothered the junior. Charlie just looked at him as if it were any normal day, no hint on his face of the true meaning of the message.

"Uh, thanks Charlie." He murmured as he sat back down and the senior left. Indeed, as he looked at the paper, there was an article dated from 2006. But at the bottom, four words were scribbled:

_Prefect Office. 15 minutes._

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**What did you think? Were you surprised or not?**

**Happy writing and see you soon!**

**PenMagic x**


	6. Throbbing Headache

**Hey! Now we get to see a little snippet of how our unfortunate Stuart and Hanover friends are doing! I hope that you liked the last chapter, I had great fun writing it!**

**Enjoy this one, we get some brotherly love and some serious hate towards our little mole...**

* * *

Ow. Ow. Blinking his eyes open, he found that he could barely make out anything except the small figure huddled next to him. His head throbbed as if it was an anvil in the busiest blacksmith's shop in the world, where the hammer weighed 20 pounds and was made of solid steel. It must be from whatever had been hit against his head...how long ago? The room he was in gave no indication of either sunlight or moonlight shining through any kind of window, the only source of light came from a dimmed light bulb overhead that was quickly losing its power. He furrowed his brow and screwed his eyes shut as he tried to remember how he had gotten here, the pounding in his skull intensifying with each thought that popped into his head. No, he had no idea where he was.

Wait. What about Sean? Was Sean here? Were any of the other Stuarts? Had it been a mass kidnapping of the whole house? Was this some kind of Windsor prank that he, for once, had not been privy to? It wasn't an unusual occurrence for him to not know, but something on this scale shouldn't have even been successful given the amount of security that all four houses had. No, this felt wrong. Wrong like the tingle that was creeping up his back and chilling his spine, wrong like the absence of noise in a place that should had at least a few creaks and whispers. Bailey shuddered.

"Hello?" He rasped, his voice was hoarse from dehydration. "Anyone there?"

Only a whimper from his left answered him. Sniffs indicated the person had been crying and a weak voice called out after a moment. "Justin?"

Bailey Tipton's heart dropped. It wasn't the voice of Sean, nor of any Stuart. But he knew the voice. The voice of the second girl to grace Dalton's halls. "No. It's Bailey."

"B-Bailey?" Laura's voice still shook. "Um, uh –"

There was a pause. "Bailey Tipton, from Stuart?" Bailey elaborated, holding back a sigh. "Remember me?" He hadn't expected Laura Bancroft to recognise his name, having only visited Hanover on occasion when Oli had asked him over. And Laura, having at least some good sense about her, usually declined going over to Stuart, avoiding the stress and rigidity of the house. "I'm a friend of Oli Snow." He tried desperately to keep the fear and worry out of his voice, but it was more difficult than he thought. "You know Oli, don't you?"

The moment of silence after he spoke was enough to hear Laura breathe a gust of fear and anxiety out of her lungs, calming slightly. "You know Oli? You're a friend of his?" She whispered and Bailey nodded. He was hoping that she could see him, as he still struggled to balance enough to sit up. "What happened?"

Bailey shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. Are you hurt?" He said, painfully aware of the throbbing in his skull. Can you scoot over here a little, just so I can see you?"

Laura crawled slowly over to him, and the collection of marks marring her body made him wince with sympathy. Her blonde hair was matted, and her left eye was almost completely closed from the swelling caused by the large bruise forming there. Her right eye looked at him with an understandable wariness. A few cuts and bruises scarred her face but she looked otherwise unhurt. She shivered, goosebumps rising on her pale skin, and it was then that Bailey realised she was still in her nightclothes.

"They didn't even have the decency to give us a change of clothes." A slight smile crossed Laura's face, and contagiously caught on to Bailey's, making the stony room just a little bit lighter.

"Have my blazer." He shrugged off his jacket as gingerly as possible, feeling like his entire body was one big bruise, and Laura almost melting into the warmth it radiated as Bailey realised how cold the room actually was.

It was an unhealthy habit he had picked up recently, falling asleep in his uniform and then waking up disheveled and rather annoyed at his creases in the stiff fabric. Now, for the first time, he was glad he had fallen asleep last night in something warmer than pyjamas. That, and…

"Laura, check the inner pocket on the left." He said. "I left my phone in there last night."

Laura's face lit up as she plunged her hand in to the oversized blazer. Bailey held his breath as she pulled out her hand clasped tightly around a small, rectangular object, which, upon further inspection, was a packet of empty Redvines. They both huffed and slumped back against the floor, tossing the wrapper away in disappointment.

"Guess they're smarter than we hoped." Laura murmured.

Both teenagers jumped as light suddenly flooded the room as the door on the far side was flung open. The solid metal door slammed against the wall, waves of echoes ricocheting around the room like pinballs in an overzealous machine. Bailey squinted around the too-bright hallway lights, straining to make out the figure standing in the doorway. The person was tall, easily towering over them, and wore a bulky sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his face. His arms were folded over his broad chest and Bailey unconsciously leaned backwards towards the other wall.

"We managed to get both of you out of Dalton Academy, and you think that we'd actually be stupid enough to leave your phones with you?" Their kidnapper's deep voice was laced with barely-hidden scorn. "What a bright pair you two are."

Bailey shifted so that he was sitting on his knees, toes pressed under him so that he could move quickly if things went south, "What do you want with us? We haven't done anything to you, all we do is go to school there."

He tried to keep his voice calm and steady, but a cold laugh rang through the room and the man came forward, grabbing the collar of Bailey's shirt and pulling him to his feet. Now the sophomore could see the grey eyes that were boring into his, turbulent and stormy. "Ah, Tipton, isn't it? It's not you that we want, really. You don't matter. We just need Mommy and Daddy to lend us some of their fortune, and then we can let you scuttle on home like the brat you are."

He dropped Bailey, and the Stuart put his hands out just in time to catch himself o the hard ground. "So we're just pawns for you to play with?" Laura's voice was shaky, but a strain of real confidence seeped through as well. "What makes you think that we'll play along? What makes you think that you can make us do anything?"

"You," the man turned to Laura now, a smile menacing his face, "are going to talk. And you're going to talk whether you like it or not." Bailey shuddered, itching to grab Laura's hand or scoot close enough to draw comfort for her. He had seen enough horror flicks in his jaunts to Windsor house to know the connotation behind the word 'talk', and he wasn't looking forward to what this man's interpretation of the word was. "So which of you wants to go first?"

Laura drew Bailey's blazer in like a comforter around her, tucking herself away from their kidnapper's predatory gaze, and really, what choice did Bailey have? "I'll go."

He forced the words out of his throat, a conflict of emotion rising in his chest as he watched Laura try and fail not to be relieved. She picked herself up a little bit and steeled herself, as if working up the courage to say something, so before she could open her mouth, Bailey started walking with determined steps towards the lights in the hallway. It took everything he had not to turn back to Laura as he walked away.

* * *

Todd swallowed hard, staring up in to the intimidating to the Prefect's office. Located directly next to the school's lush faculty quarters, the secluded office was barricaded by an ornately carved door patterned with intricate designs that Todd could happily run his hands over for hours and hours. He had no idea what was behind the door, being that only Prefects were allowed past the threshold, but he had consumed by the mystery since he first passed by in freshman year. Now he wished he didn't have to know. Nothing behind the Prefect's strict walls could be worth everything it had taken to get him there.

Taking a breath, Todd raised his fist and knocked three times. Part of him wanted to make some kind of joke, maybe sing a few lines from Disney's latest film to try and lighten the mood. But the rational part of him knew that doing so would probably sign the death warrant that the Prefects had no doubt already drafted.

"Enter." The one word wasn't enough for Todd to guess which Prefect was calling him in, but the American twang ruled out Justin. Thank goodness for that, at least. The last person Todd wanted to face directly right now was the older brother of the girl whose kidnapping he had enabled.

Turning the smooth steel handle of the door, Todd stepped into the room. It was as normal as one would expect it to be. Four large oak desks sat in the four corners of the room, against the wall, each desk personalized for each of the prefects, and a large round table sat in the middle, chairs posed it. Dozens of portraits and pictures lined the walls, each frame containing a Prefect. Up until about thirty years back, however, the pictures were only grouped three to a generation, the photos noticeably missing the two-toned greys of Lancaster House.

"The reinstallation of Lancaster as a proper house." The cool voice of Riley Paige made him start as the Lancaster Prefect nodded to the portrait Todd was staring at. "August 27th 1981, Ratchet Paige is appointed the first Prefect of Lancaster House in the 150 years of Lancaster as a Dalton Academy house."

Todd blinked, although it wasn't all that surprising. "Your father?"

Riley nodded but Logan cut across him. "We're not here to give sophomores a history lesson, Paige. No one cares that you're Legacy and that your father was the first Lancaster Prefect."

Todd turned to see Logan perched on his desk, one leg crossed over the other, arms folded across his chest. Charlie sat at the table, feet placed carelessly on the polished surface, glaring at Logan. Justin was the only one at his desk, his hands clasped on the desk and head bowed.

Charlie jerked his head to the desk. "Take a seat, Todd. We want to discuss."

Logan snorted. "Discuss? You better be grateful that I'm not ripping out your throat Hendricks."

Todd shrunk; but at least there was finally the reaction he had been expecting. He sat down cautiously next to Charlie, and Riley planted himself on the other side of the sophomore. The two heads seemed to be fairly ambiguous in their feelings towards him, so at least he wasn't in immediate danger of having his head torn off and stuck on a pike. Logan took the seat next to Riley and Justin made his way over to the table, sliding in last. He couldn't look at Todd, and Todd couldn't blame him. It was his fault that Laura had gone missing, after all.

"I'm sorry Justin." He blurted out, going against every single sensible thought in his body. "I didn't know they were going to get Laura."

The British senior finally looked up and stared disbelievingly at the sophomore. "You just led them to the place, let them in, and did nothing as they took your classmates? What was your position in all this? _Why _did you have a position in all of this?"

"I think we'd all like to know that." Logan mumbled.

Todd turned his face down towards the table; he couldn't look at them while he talked. "The kidnappers are the men who murdered my parents 2 years ago." Gosh, didn't he sound like such a cliché? But when Logan, Riley and Justin glanced at Charlie, the Windsor Prefect merely nodded in affirmation. "I was already accepted to Dalton, and they kept me alive purely for the money. They had already stolen my inheritance from my parents, and they used part of it to pay my tuition fees. They're only this for the money, the profit. They wanted to target Dalton because they knew there were so many rich and famous parents. All I knew was that they were focused on Hanover and Stuart."

"Liar." Justin spoke again and Todd looked up with a frown. Yes, he had omitted the fact that he knew that Bailey and Laura were going to be targeted but they didn't need to know that. He wasn't even sure that he was going to be reprieved for the things they knew he had done; there was no need to add on to his list of unforgiveable actions. "You knew they were going to get Laura. Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you warn us so we could have some kind of security in place?"

Justin saw right through him, he had always been good at reading people. "I knew that it would be Bailey and Laura." Right after the words left his lips, Todd felt like slamming his head down on the table in front of him. What had possessed him to say that? The combined power of Prefects must have been messing with his head. "I didn't want to die. They promised that they wouldn't hurt them!" He continued. "They said they would kill me before killing Bailey and Laura if I tried to stop it from happening. And I only found out that things were starting to go wrong on Thursday evening!"

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "When you left school for the doctor's appointment? Are you telling me all the times you left school, you were seeing them?"

Todd dropped even further down in his seat. There was no point in hiding now; it was impossible to stay steady under his Prefect's firm gaze. "Yes. Not every time, but, well, often. I just wanted to live!"

Logan slammed his hands down on the table, making Todd jump. "Todd, Bailey and Laura could die! We could have sorted it out; we could have saved them, and you! You're a damn coward for not telling us."

Todd almost bit his tongue then. He's already caused enough trouble for himself, but something slick and hot started to writhe under his skin, bubbling up his throat and spilling out the truth. They didn't know what he'd been through, they didn't understand how terrified he had been.

"And who would have listened to me, Logan?" He pushed back his chair and stood up. "I'm just a nobody, someone who people call a nuisance and can't wait to get away from! I'm just a pawn in the games of chess played between Windsor and Stuart, caught in the crossfire. I don't matter to anyone. Not even to my kidnappers. They've never needed me for anything except their own gains. I'm useless."

"Don't say that." Charlie said in a low voice. "You are not worthless, I consider your opinion as much as the next Windsor boy, I just need to hear them. Windsors keep an eye out for each other."

Logan snorted. "Cut the family rubbish Charlie. What are we going to do? We need to get them and fast. Before they…" he purposefully trailed off, unwilling to say what everyone was thinking. "Before something happens to them." He finished instead. Bailey, despite not being one of his closer friends, was probably one of the kindest and most sincere people Logan knew, and was the only Stuart who smiled at him every time they saw each other. So he cared for the boy far more than he cared to admit.

Riley cut in before anything escalated further. "Look, we need a crack team; a team of boys who know how to evade the system, people who know how to get in and get them out as soon as possible." Now he turned to Charlie, the shadow of a smile playing on his face. "You wouldn't happen to know of anyone who might be a halfway decent hacker, would you?" Charlie laughed quietly, and Riley turned to Logan and Justin. "Let's meet in here with a team in 45 minutes; we need to get started as soon as we can. You have to have at least one person who can help us out."

Justin nodded. "Don't worry, I've already got someone in mind."

Logan stood up from the table. "We'll need you, Hendricks, so stick around. We can't tell anyone why they're being called here. Anyone who asks can be told the Prefect Team is handling it. The faculty are useless as it is, so we have to do it ourselves."

Justin stood as well. "Can we go? The sooner we get started, the sooner we get them back." He looked at Todd. "Please tell me you knew where they were taken."

Todd shifted, twisting his hands in his lap. "I don't. B-but I can show you where I went for the meetings."

Riley shrugged. "That's a good enough start." He looked around at the boys. "Meeting dismissed, I'll try and bring snacks next time."

There was a small smile from Charlie who guided Todd from the room and the two made their way back towards Windsor. "You have anyone in mind who to help?" Todd asked casually as they walked back.

Charlie smirked. "Besides you? I have a couple of ideas. And honestly, the more people, the better; Windsor was practically made to solve problems like these."

* * *

**What did you think? I'm getting so close to the 20,000 word mark, it's so exciting! Please do let me know what you think as I love hearing your feedback!**

**Happy writing,**

**PenMagic x**


	7. Organised Chaos

**Hey! Look at that, two updates in one day and if I remember when I get back from a flat party, you might even get a third update! Because the deadline is tomorrow, there is a mad rush for my lovely Beta Jay to try and edit the last three chapters tonight and hopefully tomorrow night his time if we can get away with it! So while we know that the deadline is tomorrow, we hope to get away with posting a couple on Saturday morning when I will also be frantically writing the first 1,600 words of my NaNoWriMo. I am hoping to post that either on fiction press or on AO3 or somewhere like that so that people can read it. It's an original work but I hope you will consider reading it!**

**Enjoy the new chapter and PLEASE let me know what you think, I love hearing what people have to say.**

* * *

The Prefect office had changed dramatically in the hour since Todd had left with Charlie. All of the furniture was still there, but the desks had been pushed against the wall, and the central table had been folded away and was in the bay window. Chairs were pressed against the walls but were turned inwards in a circle to face the middle of the room, and fifteen boys sat on the seats, looking at each other like lost puppies.

The five Windsor boys plus Charlie sat in front of the bay window. Han shuffled uncomfortably in his seat, fiddling with his cell phone and glancing at the door occasionally as if questioning whether or not he could make a break for it. Ethan and Evan stared at everyone there in turn, eyes gleaming as they scrutinized every move made. They were the only ones who looked truly at ease there, lounging in their seats like they already knew why they'd been called, even though it was impossible. Blaine adjusted his blazer, trying to calm his breathing and give his hands something to do at the same time. Todd was feeling decidedly awkward now, even more so than he'd been when telling the story the first time to the Prefects. There was no way around it, telling them the truth. How would he disguise the fact that he knew where to look?

Logan sat silent with his two offerings from Stuart. Sean Powell glanced around the room with wide eyes; he had to be there because he was friends with Bailey, same as Todd. Derek Seigerson, was there merely as an observer and an offerer of advice and ideas. He was here to support Logan; everyone knew that the Prefect was suffering because of this. Besides, he had nowhere better to be. Julian was off god-knows where dealing with his manager and schedule, and given the choice between the two, even Logan's stunted emotions were more appealing than that.

Justin had three members from Hanover, all sitting patiently next to him, trusting that he'd tell them what was going on in due time. Spencer sat to his right, his phone resting carefully on his lap in an attempt to look casual. The quick click-click-click of his heel tapping the ground was the only thing that gave him away. Danny was on his other side, nervously shifting but looking prepared; good day or bad day, he was the one people trusted to be ready. Oli sat to Danny's left, mostly calm and composed as he surveyed the group. He was the youngest there and he knew it, but he also knew how to find people; it was supposedly one of his more supernatural abilities.

Riley sat with only one other member from Lancaster, Isaac Graves. The boy was practically a snake, the one who could smooth talk his way in and out of anything. They were in need of an actor who could get them places, and since Julian wasn't exactly low key or available, Isaac was the next best thing.

Dense silence filled the room as they looked at each other. Only the Prefects knew why each of them was there, and confusion stifled the air, making the atmosphere grow thicker and thicker as the seconds ticked by. Logan couldn't take this. He couldn't take not knowing where people were; he couldn't take being responsible for his house when it was vulnerable. He liked order, he liked security and right now he had none of that. Derek was the one thing that was keeping him from exploding.

"None of you know why you are here." Charlie spoke, looking around the circle, all eyes turning towards him. "None of you except the Prefects."

"And now we are going to tell you why." Logan took over. "Each of you is here because you have a skill that is going to help us find Laura and Bailey." He looked to Isaac. "Graves, you're the best actor we could find that isn't a diva being hounded by paparazzi." There was a small snort from Isaac. "Willis, you have enough contacts to let us to scour the whole county if need be." Spencer grinned at him. "And I don't know why, but my gut tells me that we might need that at some point." Spencer's grin disappeared in a flash, retreating at the thought of actually having to use his influential powers.

Charlie saw his opportunity and grabbed control of the group, used to taking charge in times of stress and mayhem. "Danny, you're here because you know the Bancrofts better than any of the rest of us. You're the eyes and ears of Hanover and people trust you and your judgment, and that's the kind of person we need to communicate with the rest of the student population. Oli," he looked to the youngest boy who gazed up at him through small rectangular glasses, "you're going to working with Han because we need bright minds who can get inside the heads of the kidnappers, find where they could have taken them. Derek," Charlie racked his brains fast to think of an excuse why Derek was here, other than the fact that Logan had begged to drag him along. "We'll need an athlete for when the actual retrieval goes down, and you have the strength and agility to help extract Bailey and Laura, and distract the kidnappers, if it comes to that."

Derek smirked; it was the highest compliment any Windsor would ever pay him. Then Justin spoke up quietly, capturing the attention of the room in a few short breaths. "Sean, you knew, uh, know Bailey. We need friends who can think as he does, get into his head and work out what his moves would be if he were in that situation. Blaine," he offered the lead Warbler a small nod, "you know pretty much every student in the school. You know how the school works; you know how the body of the school thinks. We need you to hear the suggestions and worries the boys might have about the safety of the school. We need you to be the voice of the Prefects, the liaison between this crack team and the student body. They respect you, and so do we."

Blaine offered the Hanover Prefect a grateful smile before Riley turned to the remaining four boys who hadn't been spoken of yet. "Twins, you two are the best hope we have at cracking into anywhere. You know the school, it's faults, and it's safety nets and we need your knowledge to get hold of anything that could even remotely help us. Han, you and Oli are going to watch those security tapes, and hack into whatever you can. Try and keep it legal, though, the last thing we need is the CIA nosing into our business." Han nodded hurriedly, pushing his glasses up from where they'd slipped down the bridge of his nose. "Get footage from all over Westerville, maybe a bit beyond. It all depends on the information we get."

"What's Todd doing here?" Derek asked after a pause, echoing the thoughts of many of the room. "I know he's a friend of Bailey and all that, but we've already got Sean."

All eyes turned to the Windsor sophomore, who shrunk under their gaze. "Todd is here because we asked him to be." Charlie said slowly, unwilling to let anyone except Todd reveal the truth.

"He was the Dalton mole, wasn't he?" The seven words from Oli Snow sounded so simple and naïve, yet the 12 year old looked at Todd with a sharply cocked head, his eyes narrowed in thought. "You haven't told us who it is, and given the dwindling possibilities of what people could be here for, it makes sense. Although not much sense given that he's supposed to be friends with us, with Bailey."

The hurt in the boy's voice was enough to make Todd wince, his gaze returning to his lap, fingernails scratching and picking at his rubbed-raw skin. The boys looked at Todd, waiting for an answer. Most were undecided, eyes darting from Oli to Todd to the Prefects, then back again, Oli and Sean were angrier than the others, Sean immediately twisting his expression darkly, angling his body away from Todd.

Finally, Todd nodded, still looking at his lap. "You don't understand, none of you do. But yes, I told the kidnappers how to get into Dalton and I told them where Laura and Bailey were. But I have no idea where he's taken them. I have ideas, theories based on the places I met them but nothing concrete." He looked up at the rest of the boys, his eyes pleading. "It's a long story, but I promise you that I didn't mean to hurt them. I never meant for anything to happen to them, I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I want to help get them back; I care for Bailey and Laura more than anything. I played a part in their kidnapping but I want to play a part in their rescue, too. I regret it, I regret it so much; please, let me fix this!"

"And what would have happened if you hadn't said anything?" Sean spat, not bothering to conceal the hurt and disbelief on his face. "If you had never told them how to get to us? What would have happened? Would we be safe?"

Todd swallowed. "I would be dead." He squared his shoulders. "But I won't let either of them die. I can promise you that."

Worried murmurs and critical whispers met his words, and Sean met Todd's gaze, accepting his words along with his actions. Was that the price he would have had to pay? What would he have done in Todd's situation? Would he have rather died than put his friend in danger? Half of him said yes, said that Todd was selfish and cruel for putting himself before Bailey. But the other half of him understood. He didn't want to, but he understood. Sean didn't quite smile at Todd, but he wiped the scowl off his face and did his best to straighten out his furrowed brow.

"Well we better get to work then. Laura and Bailey are depending on us to find them." The other boys, content to let Sean speak for them, muttered in consensus before the moment was over.

From inside one of the many blazers in the crowd, a familiar song started playing. "_After all you put me through, you think I'd despise you. But in the end, I want to thank you, cause you made me that much stronger_."

Todd blushed as he reached into his blazer pocket and took out his iPhone, every eye impatient on him. The caller ID flashing brightly on the screen, however, made time come to a crashing halt. "It's Bailey."

"Well answer it, idiot!" Logan snapped as the others froze. "Put it on speaker."

"Can I use one of the computers?" Han interjected, and Charlie pointed to his own laptop. He was hopefully able to trace the call through some sort of server, or one of the dozens of program he had.

Overwhelmed by the sudden clamour and bustle, Todd hastily clicked the accept button and held it out so everyone could hear. "Bailey? Bailey, thank goodness, are you okay?"

The only noise at the other end of the phone was a hacking cough, wet and thick and sound like a summary of how Todd felt right now. "Todd? Is that you?"

A collective sigh of relief came from the boys and despite the circumstances, Todd couldn't help but smile as he replied. "Yeah Bailey, it's me. Are you okay? Where are you? Laura's missing from Dalton too, is she with you?"

Bailey swallowed. "Yeah, she's here."

Justin looked up. "Can I speak to her? Bailey, is she okay?"

There was a pause before Bailey answered. "How many people are listening Todd? That was Justin wasn't it?"

Todd bit his lip. Something sounded off; the strain in Bailey's voice went deeper than just a cough. "14 of us, the group that are going to get you and Laura back." Derek side-eyed him and tried to pantomime a hand slicing through a throat, shaking his head violently, but Todd was too wrapped up in Bailey's voice to notice.

"Laura's fine, a little cold, but she's got my blazer Justin." Bailey went flat, as if all his emotions had been sucked out of him. "She's okay, Justin."

"He's being listened to." Todd murmured to Charlie who nodded in assent as Bailey kept talking. Derek threw his hands in the air

"I'm looking after her, don't worry." Bailey said, "I'll make sure she comes out of this. Oh, and please, don't call Josh, please. He's got enough to worry about without having to drive himself mad with worry over me."

"What do they want with you?" Justin said gently when Todd didn't look able to speak anymore.

Bailey swallowed. "To send a warning. They want $100,000 for each of us within the next 24 hours. Another $100,000 for each 24 hours we're here."

"But why ring us?" Justin said. He knew that they were both thinking the same thing; why call them when Justin was the only family member of them at Dalton? The kidnappers hadn't even known Justin would be there when they called Todd.

"To send a warning." Bailey murmured. "They wanted me to tell you that you can't come and rescue us. If you even try, then…" he choked up and started to cough, unable to finish the sentence.

"They'll what Bailey?" Todd suddenly found his voice again, driven by the fear that had been squirming in his guts again.

"They'll make us watch the other being tortured before they kill us, and then you. They said that they know exactly where you are, they always do, and they wanted to remind you." The last part was said with an inquisitive air, as if he was trying to make sense of the lines he was being told to parrot over the phone. "They know where you are? Todd, what's going on?"

He couldn't. He couldn't tell Bailey, not now. Maybe not ever. "I don't know, Bailey. But I promise, we will come and rescue you, and we will get you back."

"Tell the guys that I'm fine and I'd rather die than let anything happen to Laura. I promise to keep her safe. See you soon, right Todd?"

Todd nodded, never more certain of it. "Right you are, Bailey." The phone clicked off. "Right you are." Todd looked at the assembled group.

"What does he mean by 'they know where you are'?" Riley frowned.

"I honestly have no idea," he shrugged, " it probably means that I have a tracker or something on me. I probably shouldn't go on any of the hunts in town."

"Okay, I got you a vague area of where Bailey was coming from but I can't get you an exact location." Han said sharply, his fingers clicking rapidly across the keyboard. "I'm printing a map of the area…now."

Oli stood up and hovered over the computer tentatively. "I m-might be able to lend you a hand. That is why I'm here after all."

Blaine clapped Han lightly on the back. "Nice work, Han. Can I suggest that maybe Todd stays with Han? It's not ideal, but better than him being tracked moving all around town."

Logan nodded. "What is this, are the Windsors actually using their brains for once? This is a surprise."

Charlie rolled his eyes. "The last thing we need right now is the rivalries to start up, Logan. Can't Stuart and Windsor put aside their differences just for 24 hours? Look, we've got the biggest offering, and we're willing to put ourselves on the line to get a Stuart back."

Justin stood up and moved into the centre of the space and immediately all eyes were trained on the determined and somehow still composed Hanover. "Please, guys. We have 24 hours. 24 hours to get them back, alive. So can we please stop bickering? There's only so much that either of them will be able to handle. We need to start working right away." He looked to Han. "Han, work on getting the co-ordinates and work with Todd and Oli to figure out where the signal is coming from. Spencer, I need tactical ideas, how do we approach this from start to finish? Evan and Ethan, is there any way to narrow down the area we search?"

The Twins looked at each other. "We'll work something out, don't worry. You can count on us."

Justin nodded slightly. "At the moment, the 13 of you are the only people I can trust. We need to get Laura and Bailey back home."

Riley nodded. "That's all we want, to get them both home." He clapped his hands and got the attention of all the boys, even the Prefects. "Let's get to work."

* * *

**What did you think? I know this was a bit more of a filler chapter than anything but I hope you enjoyed it all the same! Plus we get to see Oli who has only made an appearance in CP Coulter's side stories written about Dalton, not actually in the story! He belongs to her, not me.**

**Happy writing,**

**PenMagic x**


	8. Full Speed Ahead

**I'VE FREAKING PASSED 20,000 WORDS! So not excited about this small feat! Oh I'm kidding, my poor Beta Jay has got a big project so this is the last chapter he managed to edit. There are three chapters that I'm hoping to get up in intervals over the next 8 hours or so which will be good and just in time for the deadline! And then work starts tomorrow on 'Exit Pursued By A Bear', my NaNoWriMo this year!**

**Enjoy the chapter and PLEASE let me know what you think!**

* * *

He had been awake for almost 24 hours without even a blink of sleep, and he could feel his eyelids starting to droop. Not that it was any more unusual than the scattered pieces of paper with things half-printed or the half-full TARDIS mug full of tea sitting next to him. Blinking his eyes almost continuously, he typed as fast as he could, all too aware of the two entities behind him, trying to work out which screen they were supposed to be looking at.

"Come on, Caterpillar." Evan murmured as he stared intently at the screen that Han was looking at.

Han huffed. "I will, if you two would be quiet. Hacking into national satellites is not as easy as it looks on TV."

Oli murmured his agreement from where he sat nestled into a deep beanbag chair. "We might be geniuses, but the law has to start somewhere, even for us."

Han shrugged his shoulders. "We could break a few laws if we really wanted to. I mean, hacking is against the law, and that makes up about 100% of our job."

Oli smiled at his new friend. He had never actually met Han before yesterday, and he was already finding the Windsor easy and understandable company. The tiny freshman was dwarfed by the screens, but he seemed naturally at ease in the room, blending in perfectly among the thick cables on the floor and the clicks of the numerous keyboards.

Suddenly there was a chime from the door and the five boys jumped, rattling out of their heavy concentration. "We aren't expecting anyone else, are we?" Ethan murmured and Evan shook his head.

Han put the keyboard down for a moment and grabbed a pair of headphones from the end of the table, shoving them over his ears before bringing up another screen. "Who is it?"

The monitor flickered with hazy static, and the view of the corridor outside the room came fuzzily alive. "It's me, Kurt." The pale boy was frowning slightly. "You know, Alice?"

Han looked to the twins, then Oli, then at least at Todd, who had been sitting in the corner, following Han's progress from the far reaches of the room. "The Prefects dragged Blaine into this, Kurt was going to follow soon enough." Todd said after a moment. "He's pretty much the only sane one in all of this."

While he could have protested as to his own sanity, Han knew it wasn't the time. "Alright then, come on in Kurt."

Turning up the main light slightly so Kurt could get used to the lack of natural light, Han let the door slide open, and a patch of vapour near the door escaped into the corridor as the junior entered the room. His frown intensified as he took in the screens and the people working inside. "Is there something going on here that I should be aware of?"

Han glanced to the twins who gave Kurt winning and slightly unnerving smiles. "We'll fill you in later Kurt. We need your opinion though."

"We do?" Todd, Oli and Han looked at them with confusion.

Ethan reached over Han's shoulder and tilted the screen for Kurt to see. "Do you recognize where that is? The general area at least?"

Kurt peered at the screen, Han shrinking at the invasion of his personal space. "A little close, don't you think?" He complained and both boys leaned back, Kurt squinting at the grainy image. "It's the best we've got, okay?" Han said, taking Kurt's vision problem as a slight insult. "There are only so many cameras in Lima, Ohio, and not many of them are focused on places that aren't banks and rich grandmother's homes."

After a moment though, Kurt nodded. "Yeah, that looks like an area about a mile from my place down in Lima. Why?"

"It's the nearest signal we got to finding Bailey and Laura." Han said, his full attention now directed back at his computer, zooming out to get a better look at the surrounding area.

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "The five of you are going to get Bailey and Laura back? You guys are good; I'll give you that, but there is a limit to how much you can do outside this room. You do know that, right?" He looked at Oli curiously. "Sorry, I don't think we've ever actually met. I'm Kurt Hummel, Windsor junior."

Oli smiled at him, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "I know, I've heard all about you. Oli Snow, Hanover Freshman. I'm helping Han with all things that require my unique expertise."

Evan smirked. "And that's why, dear Alice, there are now 15 of us from all 4 houses working together to keep the Pax Romana at Dalton while launching a full scale operation to get Laura and Bailey back before 8pm tonight, when the ransom doubles for both of them."

"And you guys know this how, exactly?" Kurt was more curious than confused now.

Han dismissed this small detail with the wave of a hand. "Doesn't matter, we will fill you in. Now, how can I help you? You didn't come in here to help with the investigation you knew nothing about until now, I'm guessing."

Kurt laughed quietly. "I wanted to see if you had the DVD of a film I need to use for a presentation in Chemistry I've got next week. But this is far more interesting."

Han grabbed a little remote from the stacks on the table and pressed a green button, a low hiss echoing and a filing cabinet slid open. "What were you looking for? These are all the physical DVDs I own, but I have more downloaded on one of my computers."

Kurt grinned. "Flubber?" All eyes turned to him, expressions varying between amusement and confusion. "What? It's Robin Williams and it's got something to do with Chemistry…it's close enough."

Han shrugged. "I've got it downloaded on here somewhere, for one reason or another. But I suppose Robin Williams is a good reason all on his own. Give me a sec." Focusing on yet another of his screens, Han typed a few words on his keyboard, and within a minute he was looking back at Kurt. "I've sent it to your email, you can watch the full thing on your computer. No viruses."

Kurt smiled. "Thanks Han, they weren't lying when they said you could solve any digital problem. Now, fill me in. If what you're saying is true, we've got 11 hours to get them back safe."

Kurt sunk into one of the chairs by the screen and Todd and Oli looked at the twins who looked delighted to have another hand on deck. Another brain was always a welcome joy.

…

"What do you mean, you can't get any more specific?" Logan demanded as the Prefects were gathered around the table over Sunday lunch with Han and his official second-in-commands, Todd and Oli. "You're the best hacker the school has ever produced."

Han shrugged. "Why don't you have a go at if you're so confident you can do better? I can't get any closer because Bailey didn't stay on for as long as I needed him to."

Logan was reaching breaking point. "Don't you dare lay the blame on him Westwood, he's being held by murderers after being violently kidnapped. This is not his fault."

Todd glanced warily at the ticking time bomb that was the Stuart Prefect as he shook his head. "No, it's my fault. I should have kept him on longer, got him to let Laura to talk, get confirmation that they were both okay."

Charlie shook his head vehemently. "Now is not the time to be playing the blame game, both of you. Todd, you didn't know how long it would take Han to do what he needed to. It's a miracle you managed to get it as far as you did."

"Kurt knows the area." Han added after a pause, and the boys looked at him. "He needed a copy of Flubber for a project and while he was at my place, the Twins asked him if he knew the area. His home is a couple of miles away from the mast."

"And how far does the mast reach?" Justin asked.

Han grimaced. "3 miles in diameter, a circumference of 3P miles. It'll take us a while."

"Can't Spencer pull some strings?" Riley asked, looking to Justin. "Surely there's something General Willis can do to get a general cover of the area. An aerial view of abandoned buildings, places off the beaten track that look as if they might have been used recently."

Justin nodded, but he didn't look hopeful. "I'll ask him."

Charlie pushed his now empty tray away from him. "We need diversion tactics, and fast. A crack team needs to scour the area within the hour, or we might not reach them before the deadline. Do we have an update on what the parents have said on the ransoms?"

Justin let out a frustrated sigh, pushing back his unwashed fringe with one hand. "My parents are freaking asleep right now; I've tried calling them but no one is picking up. I'm going to keep hounding their phones until they pick up. The Tiptons are trying to negotiate with them, see if thy can work a way to get Bailey back without having to fork out the money."

Todd frowned. "But they're the freaking Tipton family, it can't be too hard to get $100,000 can it?"

Logan glanced around to make certain that no one was listening in before leaning in and quietly whispering. "They actually haven't been doing so well recently, Bailey was telling me the other day. Their rivals are catching up with them and I think they fear that the kidnappers could be working for the rivals. Giving the money could potentially break them."

Todd and Han raised their eyebrows at the unexpected bit of news. "Was it our imagination or did we hear the words 'diversion' and 'crack team' floating in our direction?" The silky voices of the Brightman twins made the entire table start, still unused to the way the Twins managed to move without being detected. "Because if so, we know just the people who can shut the school down and provide a distraction."

Riley raised an eyebrow. "Other than you two?"

Evan put a hand to his heart. "Oh, you flatter us Paige, but we aren't the only ones who cause a storm wherever we go."

Ethan smirked. "Plus wasn't the point of bringing us into the game to get us to get them out of there?"

Justin looked at them expectantly. "Who were you thinking of?"

The twins' smiles widened. "The Warblers."

* * *

Smoothing down the lapels on his blazer for the dozenth time, Kurt glanced nervously at Blaine. "Are you sure that this is a good idea?" He whispered as the Windsor Warblers made their way towards the main building where they were going to meet the others to make the final preparations.

Blaine shook his head. "Nope, but it's the best idea we've got, especially if we want the teachers are going to get distracted long enough to let Charlie and the team escape. And Han is working on looping the security cameras as we speak."

The crack team, which was still yet to have a better name, was made up of eight boys, each tasked with a sector of the circle that Han had given them. Derek and Spencer were taking the northwest corner, Charlie and David had the northeast corner, the Twins were covering southwest and Shane had been brought in and paired up with Mikey Campbell to take care of the southeast sector. They had thought about asking Dwight to help as well, but the hunter had been locked in his room ever since the dinner on the first night, desperately using his pendulum as he had with Shane's mountain disappearance in the hope that he would find them. And they knew better than to bother Dwight when he was at work on things like that.

So it fell to the remaining Warblers to construct the perfect distraction for the getaway. Kurt had come up with the perfect number, which, with a little work and rehearsal, was ready to go by 2.30. The Warblers had been more than happy to have a distraction from the hectic nature of what had been going on that weekend and all of them had eagerly accepted Kurt's invitation to perform.

The group of 12 boys gathered in the Warbler Hall briefly, their faces alight with excitement rather than nerves or fear. Blaine, as lead soloist and elected leader in the deliberate absence of any faculty, looked around at the boys. "I know it's been a tough weekend, but we all know why we need to do this. For the rest of the boys, for Bailey and Laura. To be the smoke that will hide the fire. We know it; and the boys know something is happening. We just have to make this performance big enough ot make all of them think that this is what all the secrecy has been leading up too. Also, freestyle as much as you can, it'll bring the house down!"

While Kurt rolled his eyes at the caffeine-induced hyperactivity his boyfriend was producing, the other boys cheered and even Logan cracked a small smile. The boys left slowly, dispersing as they made their way, in different directions and routes, to the sunken courtyard. Uneven steps had been dug into the naturally sloping valley, forming seating as a popular area for the boys to study when the weather warmed up, and with the warm weather, exam season was fast approaching. Right now, there were about 20 boys milling around, the rumours of an impromptu concert still spreading like wildfire, and even a few teachers were spotted, and more were soon to be drawn by this promise of hope from the boys who led the school.

Blaine glanced at Kurt who he could see was shaking slightly. "Are you nervous?" He asked, slight incredulity in his voice.

Kurt glared at Blaine, mentally damning his sharp-eyed boyfriend. "Don't judge me, it's the first solo I've had in front of a proper audience, Glee club doesn't count."

Blaine smiled gently and intertwined his fingers with Kurt's, the boy visibly relaxing under his touch. "I think it's cute, just like you. Now, you are going to be phenomenal; you always are and always will be. Now let's give our boys the getaway chance they need."

Kurt smirked and let go of Blaine, his hands no longer shaking. The two split and Blaine locked gazes across the courtyard with Wes, who nodded before starting to murmur a bass line that was picked up by the other boys as they moved around the square, picking up both pace and volume as more boys started to appear. As soon as teachers started arriving, Blaine nodded to Kurt who smiled wider and began to lift the tune higher before starting the lyrics.

"_Happiness hit her, like a train on a track. Coming towards her, stuck still no turning back_."

Heads and eyes turned towards the junior who padded towards the centre of the courtyard, hands in his pockets. The Florence and the Machine song was a personal favourite, plus he was the only Warbler who could hit the top notes.

Logan was next to join the boy the song, the two voices lilting up as the Warblers started to band together, reaching the height of the pace and volume as the crowd of Dalton boys and teachers grew over 100, and was still gathering in numbers. The boys fell into formation as Logan, Blaine and Kurt stood at the front, joining forces for the first time in a while, Kurt's voice soaring as high as it could to rapturous applause from the boys.

Logan glanced to Blaine and tapped the palm of his right hand with his second finger. 200 preset of the 300 that were at the school. More than enough. Blaine nodded and caught Isaac's eye, the boy standing at the front of the crowd and cheering the Warblers on. Having been waiting for the signal, Isaac pulled out his phone and texted Charlie, giving the go-ahead for the move out of campus. While the school was still technically on lock down, there was very little a lot of teamwork and some simple melodies couldn't fix with ease.

Clinching the top note of the song, the Warblers broke out of formation and started to go crazy, the dancers freestyling while the others weaved amongst the spectators. Blaine caught Mr. Harvey's eye, the choirmaster merely smiling and nodding in admiration and approval of the performance.

Across the grounds, eight boys, dressed head to toe in black and other camouflage gear, were piling into a black SUV. Charlie jumped into the driver's seat, and Derek grabbed the passenger seat before anyone else could, simply because he wanted to be up front, and because it just wouldn't have done for both of the people sitting up front to be Windsors.

David grabbed his phone and pressed the newly-made speed dial. "Han? Anything from Dwight yet, and have you got the tape on loop?"

Han sighed. "I told you, David, use the walkie talkies. But no, nothing from Dwight yet and you should be clear to run the gates in 30 seconds. Keep counting; you'll only have a one-minute window in which to make it. You got that?"

David nodded. "Got it." He turned to Shane who was trying not to bounce up and down in his seat like a puppy on his first car ride. "Shane, time me 30 seconds on the clock. Charlie, we've got a small window, better start for the gates now."

Charlie nodded and started the car, guiding it slowly in first gear round the back of Windsor and down the tarmac road, rather than the gravel path that would have made far more noise. Han remained on the phone to David as the boys approached the main gate. Poised just before the active motion detector, they awaited further instructions from Han.

"Han, are we good to go?" David hissed into his walkie-talkie, which was now their main method of communication.

The device crackled. "Okay, we're looping in 3…2…1. Go!" Han practically shouted and Charlie crept the car forward a couple of inches, activating the motion detector.

Immediately the large metal gates started to swing open, but anyone watching them through the security cameras would see the gates remain the same, thanks to Han's ingenuity. As soon as they were wide enough, Charlie pressed down on the accelerator and the car shot forward, slamming everyone back against their seats.

"Geez Amos, are you trying to freaking kill us?" Derek spat out as they coasted down the road and towards the highway that connected Westerville to Lima.

Charlie glared and pulled the car to a slower pace. "No Seigerson, I'm trying to get us out of there without being caught. Honestly, it's a miracle you Stuart lot are supposed to be considered the smart lot."

Derek considered biting back, but he knew better than to anger a Windsor, especially the one who was driving the car. He just had to get this over and done with, get Bailey back and get on with life. His grades were more important than ever at the moment and bumps in the road could only allowed to be bumps.

* * *

**What did you think? Did you like it? Did it make sense?! Here's the next chapter of lots of exciting crazy action!**

**Happy writing,**

**PenMagic x**


	9. A Clue

**Chapter before the penultimate chapter! This is where it is all going down! Or is it... That is up for you my friends to decide!**

**Usual disclaimer, I don't own anything except my own writing style, does that count?**

**Enjoy and do let me know what you think!**

* * *

It was now physically impossible to tell the difference between the two blonde boys who were now dressed completely from head to toe in black, right down to the long black gloves that covered their hands. The sun was starting to set, shadows were starting to elongate and according to the watches they both wore on the same wrist, they had only an hour and a half to cover the area they had which was more difficult than it sounded.

Ethan pressed a button on his walkie-talkie. "Okay Alpha 1, we are good to go. Tweedledum and Tweedledee are at base one and ready to go."

There was a crackling sound before Charlie's voice came through the audio. "Alpha 1 to Tweedles, you two are cleared for takeoff. All boys are now in position and ready to go. Let's take them down."

Evan nodded to his twin. "For Bailey and for Laura." He murmured and Ethan nodded in agreement before they moved.

The area they were covering was fairly sparse, mostly wasteland that had barbed wire to stop people from getting in. It was child's play to the Twins, they could get in however they wanted, the wire cutters in their rucksacks said it all. But that wasn't what they were looking for. The first sign of disturbance would tell them if anyone had been breaking and entering.

The twins moved slowly, along the fence. On a normal day, they could have covered the area much faster but with the need to look for every detail, they took it much slower, a fast walk. They walked away from each other, their walkie-talkies constantly on, ready to hear words from either their fearless leader or each other. They knew what they were looking for; they just had to find it. Find it before anything happened to the ones that they cared about.

They walked with even pace; looking up and down the fence, looking for those cracks that could suggest that there was, at some point a degree of disturbance and the appearance of humans. The ground was slightly dusty, footprints would be easily visible.

As the two boys continued to walk, there were very few signs of life. Right so, there shouldn't be anything and while the Twins found it a little disheartening to know that they may have the wrong sector, they knew they had to keep looking. Who knew what they would potentially find?

Suddenly a loud, crackling sound came over the radios for both boys. "Are you receiving me boys?" Han's voice was patchy and slightly disjointed.

Evan listened as he heard the other boys affirming their presence, as well as his brother's own presence, before announcing himself. "What have you got Han?" Charlie's voice sounded desperate, as if they had come up fruitless as well.

Han was breathless, a degree of excitement in his voice. "Dwight! His pendulum thing worked again!"

Shane scoffed. "I told you it would work Han, how else did he get me back?"

Han sighed. "Never mind, I'll pass you over."

* * *

Derek was getting impatient. The area he and Spencer had been covering was by far the most complex area to navigate. It had all the buildings and while the shadows that were growing with each passing minute gave them good cover, it made their job more complex.

"Where are those helicopters that you said were coming?" He whispered furiously to Spencer as they approached yet another abandoned warehouse. "Why are we checking this place anyway? There's no sign of recent activity."

Spencer glanced to the skies. "I don't know where they are, Dad said that he was happy to help as much as he could but I don't know how much that is."

Trying to ignore the lack of help, Spencer reached into his pocket and grabbed his flashlight; it was almost impossible to see without assistance now. The building they were in was only one floor; it was rundown and starting to crumble under their touch. They needed to be fast and thorough, neither of them were planning to get buried alive any time soon.

As he stepped on yet another precariously wobbly floorboard, he felt something crunch underfoot. "What on earth –"

His voice trailed off he saw what it was. "Derek!" He hissed. "Do you know what is Bailey's favourite candy?"

The junior creased his brow, trying to remember. "Uh, original Redvines I think. Why?"

Something told Spencer that while Redvines was one of the most popular candies consumed in Ohio, probably in America, it was no coincidence that he now picked up a crumpled empty packet of Redvines off the floor. Derek's eyes widened as he saw the packet.

He tried to give an explanation; only a splutter came out of his mouth. "Are there any other indicators that other people have been here? Any bit of Dalton kit that shows that they might have been here?"

The boys looked with desperation now, sweeping their flashlights left and right, in search of something, anything that could help them find the duo. "Charlie, we might have picked something up." Spencer murmured into his walkie-talkie.

The Windsor Prefect sounded incredibly excited very suddenly. "Are you serious Spence? What?"

Spencer shrugged. "We don't know if it is anything, we just found a crumpled empty packet of Redvines, which is Bailey's favourite, on the floor. I know what you're thinking, it isn't much but there seem to be no other signs of disturbance so we're going to keep going."

Spencer could hear Charlie sighing. "I agree, it isn't much but hey, it's a good enough start. Keep going you two, we've got nothing so far here but we've still got an hour or so until the time is up."

Spencer nodded. "Right you are Charlie. Let us know about any updates."

The radio clicked off and the boys carried on. Only the wrapper was found in the building and so the two moved on. A coincidence yes, but not the coincidence they were looking for. They had to keep going until they found them. They would and could never give up.

* * *

It was as if they were running in sync, trying to cover as much area as they possible could. One-step, two steps, each foot in front of the other, their breath even regulating themselves so they were even more so in sync. They moved in silence, the only sound being the padding of their feet against the gravel paths they were provided with.

Shane kept his eyes open and alert, his flashlight sweeping across the hilly ground as he and Mikey Campbell swept the corner they had been assigned. It was now nearly completely dark so they were having to rely on their other senses more and more to look for the possibility of other life forms.

The radios crackled from time to time, but nothing special. Nothing had come up; even the Twins who had the easiest job running the perimeter of the old military base that was less than a mile from the radio tower had come up with nothing. Not even Dwight, who had been so sure he would be able to come up with a more specific placement of Bailey and Laura, had got anything from his pendulum. They weren't sure what exactly happened there but if Dwight wanted to try and if it had helped find Shane, then they were willing to give it another go.

Suddenly he heard Mikey stop beside him. "What have you got?" Shane whispered, hope rising in his heart.

The blonde junior knelt down and began to feel around on the gravel around his feet. "I thought I felt something that seemed odd."

Shane frowned, please could he have got more vague? "What was it?"

The Hanover gasped as his hands clasped around it and stood up slowly. Holding his flashlight up so both boys could get a better look. Shane's eyes widened as he saw what it was. He knew that lapel pin very well, all too well. He had one on his own blazer. The small yellow canary that was backed onto a gold pin, was slightly bent from being trodden on and in the pin itself, a small piece of fabric was caught inside it.

"That looks like a piece of blazer." Mikey breathed as they looked at it.

Shane breathed in sharply. "Bailey. It's his, definitely! He's a Warbler. We have to tell the others."

He pressed a button on his walkie-talkie frantically. "Charlie!" He hissed. "Come in Charlie!"

The Windsor Prefect sounded rather put out at being called. "What Shane?"

Shane was almost shaking with excitement. "We've found Bailey's Warbler pin on the ground! It has to be his!"

Charlie gasped from the other end of the phone. "Are you freaking kidding me? I'll alert the others, that's the closest anyone's got. Alert Han and Dwight, a small surface area could help us. Good job you two!"

The senior clicked off and Shane clicked another two buttons before alerting Han to what they had found. The junior acknowledged it and passed on the news to Dwight who was more than pleased with a smaller surface area to work with. Finally they might actually be getting somewhere.

* * *

They had a lead, they actually finally had a lead! After two hours of completely fruitless searching, Charlie and David were finally getting somewhere. Well they weren't, thank goodness for Shane and Mikey locating what could be Bailey's Warbler pin. That meant they had been in the area and Han was already was looking at coordinating with anyone that General Willis had managed to pull in. not that that was anyone at the moment.

The joy that was Google Maps on their phones told them that they were fast approaching where Shane and Mikey were, where the eight of them would meet. It made sense now that they had their sector, the more the merrier, right? Swinging their flashlights around, the two boys found their way to the group with ease.

The six boys crowded around the pin that Shane and Mikey had found. "That's a Warbler pin alright." David nodded.

Ethan and Evan looked around them. "They have to be vaguely close to here then." Evan commented.

His twin nodded. "Have you found anything else? Of Laura's perhaps or another piece of Dalton uniform?"

Mikey shook his head. "We've been searching around the area, and all we found were some footprints that lead over that way." He pointed into the darkness behind the group.

Charlie looked to the boys. "Well come on!" he exclaimed and moved towards the direction that Mikey had pointed.

The boys followed suit, their flashlights providing excellent proof of where the footprints were heading. Mikey and Shane had been right, there were three sets of footprints and one set of drag marks.

David nudged Charlie as he saw the drag marks. "Who do you think that was?"

Charlie bit his lip. "I fear it might be Laura. The leg marks are too thin to be that of a guy, she must have passed out from the cold."

David nodded. "That means we have to find her faster. Justin will maul us alive if she comes back hurt."

The boys pressed on, watching where they were going and following the treads in the mud and the disturbances in the rough gorse bushes in the paths they were following. The wind was picking up, disturbing what was already there and starting to make them lose track of what little they had.

After another 20 minutes of tracking, Charlie stopped and the boys almost bumped into each other. "Why have we stopped?" Spencer asked from the back.

Charlie pointed ahead of him and the boys looked up. They had been so focused on the road and what they could see only immediately in front of them that they hadn't noticed the building that was looming up in front of them. It was dilapidated, the walls were crumbling. It looked dangerous but it looked like the perfect hideout.

"They lead straight to the building." Derek murmured as he watched the footsteps and drag marks make their way right to the broken door.

Charlie glanced to the other boys. "No one has to come in if they don't want to." None of the boys faltered though, in fact they looked more prepared than ever. He smirked. "Let's go."

* * *

The room was silent, finally. It felt as if he had been doing this for hours. The boys were out there depending on him. Every so often he heard the radio crackle but, unless his name came up, he had learnt how to tune it out. He was still glowing from the fact that he had narrowed down the search for the boys. The pendulum had told him that Bailey and Laura were within a half-mile radius of the radio tower, that he had been sure of. And it had at least quickened the search. Now he had to find exactly where.

In front of the map of the area, a tie and a jumper sat. Bailey's Dalton tie had been quickly donated by Logan who was short-tempered and didn't understand why Bailey needed it. He was grateful to Blaine for just getting it for him, the junior understood Dwight and Logan and was such a smooth talker that it only required a minute's talking to get the Stuart Prefect to agree. And Justin was desperate to try anything; it had taken a simple question for him to hand over Laura's favourite Slytherin House jumper.

Todd had taken refuge in Han's room while he worked, not even the fact of a roommate was going to stop him from getting them back. He closed his eyes again, swinging the pendulum back and forth, murmuring the relevant chants he had found in the book, his eyes closed and breathing in the peppermint smell that was now filling the air.

He knew he was getting there. He knew he was close and he just needed precious minutes to get the right place. He took a deep breath, concentrating his eyesight on the tie and the jumper, picturing Bailey and Laura, where they could be. Cold, wet, hungry, in a dark room. It was dark outside so he knew it would be cold and dark anyway.

Wait, yes! That was it! He looked down at the pendulum and where it had stopped. It was right in the place he had had a hunch about before. "YES!" He jumped up and pumped the air.

Circling the area he knew, he grabbed the map and dashed out of the room, running as fast as he could up the three flights of stairs, ramming his fist against Han's door when he came to it. "Han let me in! I've got it! I know where they are!"

The door slid open and the junior stood there with his hands outstretched, waiting for the map. Dwight pressed the paper into his hands, his eyes wild with excitement. Han took it over to where a map on the computer was tracking the movements of the eight boys out in the field. Han furiously typed in several strokes on the keyboard, recording the coordinates on the computer before gaping. "No way, that's the building right next to where they are right now!" he pulled out his own walkie-talkie and furiously pressed a button. "Caterpillar to Alpha 1! Come in Charlie!"

The Windsor Prefect answered in hushed whispers. "What is it Han?"

Han could barely contain his excitement, it had worked once, Dwight's methods, however scientifically questionable, had evidence of working. "Dwight found Bailey and Laura, you need the building to your left! They're in there!"

There was a gasp from Charlie's end before the senior spoke. "Tell Dwight good job! Let's finish this!"

* * *

**What did you think? Yes I know I left you on a cliffhanger but that is the way that I work and I know I'm horrible...but you only have to wait a couple of hours before the next chapter is up!**

**Happy writing,**

**PenMagic x**


	10. Rescue

**THE PENULTIMATE CHAPTER 15 MINUTES BEFORE THE DEADLINE! At least one of the beauties of your author maniacally rushing around before the deadline is that you don't have to wait ages to see what happens!**

**Anyway, usual disclaimers and do let me know what you think!**

* * *

Why had they asked him to call Todd? Of all the people in the school, why call one of his friends? They could have asked him to call Logan or Justin, heck that would have made much more sense than calling Todd! The call was over, it had been over nearly 20 hours ago and now the deadline that they had given them was fast approaching. His watch said it was 7.44pm and if the boys didn't come and get them in the next sixteen minutes, his parents were going to have to fork out more money that he knew for sure they didn't have.

His teeth chattered in the cold as he huddled against Laura in the cold, trying to keep himself warm. The girl had passed out on the way from the last place they were where the phone call had been made. She looked so fragile, so weak and pale and their captors knew it. He could hear the murmurings of them wishing they had brought clothes for them. At least he had had his uniform. He was able to protect Laura that way. He felt sore trying to lean his back against the wall, the welts from where they had struck him across the back as they had tried to get family secrets out of him, still stung. He hadn't given anything up, he would never betray his family. Never. But he had paid the price for that stubbornness.

His stomach growled slightly and he sighed. The captors were smart in some senses, bringing them to a secluded spot, actually managing to kidnap them, that was a smart thing to be able to do in the first place. But in another way, they really were stupid. He knew that Han would have picked up on the signal that was emitted from his phone. They hadn't brought very much food with them and it was a question of rationing the four packets of beef jerky and two bottles of water between them over the last 24 hours. That was nothing.

He looked at the girl and wrapped his arms around her sleeping form. Or at least he hoped desperately that it was asleep, rather than still passed out. He could feel her lungs moving up down, filling and emptying as she breathed. That was a great start, breathing. He preferred his friends alive than dead. In the light of the dim flashlights their captors were holding, he could see them huddled in the far corner, wrapped in thick coats and their hands curled around flasks of some hot drink. What were they waiting for? People to just walk up to the door with the money? Another person to come to take them to another 'safe house'? Were the expecting the Dalton boys to come and try to get them back? They wouldn't have too much trouble though; their captors were weak and had no weapons on them as far as he could see.

His teeth chattered subconsciously as he fought to keep himself warm. The February nights were starting to get that little bit warmer and they were building up to the lovely spring evenings Ohio was blessed with. But not yet. No, they were still confined to the harsh winter winds that came in from Michigan and Canada. He had to keep his mind away from the cold; he had to be focused on something else.

He smiled slightly for the first time since his capture, and bit his lip, starting to hum slightly to warm his vocal chords up. Whenever he was stressed, whenever was the right time, which was pretty much all the time, he knew what was the best saver, music. He could sing for Laura, who cared if she couldn't hear him. Perhaps one of the boys would, if they were somewhere out there.

"A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain, softly blows on Lullaby Bay." He murmured, singing the famous song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang under his breath, hoping that it was loud enough for Laura to hear but quiet enough so the kidnappers wouldn't catch onto it. He had a suspicion they wouldn't be too happy about. "It fills the sails of boats that are waiting, waiting to sail your worries away."

Suddenly, as he felt his vocal chords warm up to the song and get used to the cold temperatures he was surviving in, he heard something from the window just to his left. It was a footstep, he was sure about it. Maybe it was them! He knew it had to be them!

So instead of continuing to sing softly, he raised his voice. They had to be able to hear him soon! "It isn't far to Hushabye Mountain, and your boat waits down by the quay."

That was when the kidnappers noticed his singing. "Shut it kid." The tallest one hissed, his eyes wide and dangerous.

Bailey continued to carry his notes up, trying to remember the words from there. It clicking in his mind just a second later, he continued to sing, the hope of rescue filling his voice. "The winds of night so softly are sighing. Soon they will fly your troubles to sea."

Suddenly he felt a hand grab his shirt and his neck clicked slightly as he was roughly pulled up from the floor, coming face to face with one of his captors. His breath stank as he breathed heavily in his face. "What did I just say about your singing brat? Shut up or we'll advance the punishment for lack of pay from your parents by, let's say," he glanced at his watch and Bailey noticed it was now 7.49pm, "11 minutes shall we say? Starting with your girlfriend over there. Do you understand me?"

No, he couldn't harm Laura! No, she couldn't suffer. She was too young to go through any of this. So he nodded numbly, it was the only thing he could do. His attempt had been futile. "Yes, yes sir."

More satisfied than he had been, the man dropped Bailey to the ground, the sophomore catching himself just in time to stop any sprained ankles or wrists before he crawled back to where Laura was lying. He would rather die than let Laura get hurt, and that was what would happen if it came to it. He didn't know her well, not as much as he should do, but he knew when someone needed his help and Bailey was very good at helping people where he could.

He shrunk back into the corner and put his arm round Laura again, feeling the warmth of her body starting to decline. "Come on guys." He whispered under his breath, not daring to be heard by the captors. "Please can you have heard me?"

* * *

It was a stealth mission, the thing that the Brightman Twins were best at. They snuck around the two-story building with precision silence. They couldn't be heard, they couldn't be seen. They couldn't risk getting caught this late into the game. Not that it was a game but somehow thinking about it like that made more sense of it in itself. It was a painful process, listening for breathing that wasn't their own.

Then came a noise they couldn't believe was coming from the second floor of the building. "Is that singing?" Charlie barely spoke above silence to David who had the same look of disbelief on his face.

The eight boys listened carefully. "It fills the sails of boats that are waiting, waiting to sail your worries away."

Ethan and Evan looked at each other. "That's Hushabye Mountain." Evan whispered, all the boys having the natural nostalgic reaction to such an iconic film.

Ethan wanted to jump up and down but took great pains not to. "That's Bailey! That's Bailey's voice!"

Spencer spun around. "Are you sure?"

Derek listened as well. "Yeah, that's Bailey alright." He smirked. "We've got them. Let's go!"

He nodded to Charlie who took out a knife from his pocket and twisted it in his hand before moving towards the room that was right next to their friends. If they listened carefully enough, they could hear the sounds of the kidnappers murmuring in low voices.

"Does the kid want to get himself killed?" One whispered.

There was a grunt from another. "I don't know. What if his friends did come looking for him?"

There was a snort from the first one. "They wouldn't be stupid enough, they heard the phone call he made to Blue loud and clear. They know what will happen to their dear friends if they do try anything."

Charlie nodded; the supposedly threatening people they were being faced with couldn't put them off. It was now or never. He moved first into the room, pulling himself up to his full height. "What would you cowards do if you were faced with them right now?" He spoke as loudly and as confidently as he could.

The three men spun around, clearly taken by surprise by the group of eight now at the doorway of the room, Charlie leading the way, Spencer and Derek quickly flanking him. "You stupid kids actually came?" It sounded as if one of the men wanted to laugh. "You are crazy. We are not cowards, we've killed before. What's the difference between two kids and ten of them?"

Charlie smirked slightly. "The fact that your two victims are unarmed, on the verge of passing out from dehydration and the other eight are fully equipped to take on all three of you. You're outnumbered, you might as well give up now."

One of the men smirked and pushed back his coat to reveal the set of knives that, unbeknownst to the boys, he had shown Todd before. They glinted in the light of the flashlights and Shane fought back the frightened look in his eyes. "Would you call us unprepared boy? Step down and run so you don't have to see your friends get tortured to death before you are."

Charlie maintained eye contact with the man. "We aren't afraid."

He nodded slightly and before the men could react, the other boys had produced weapons of all sorts from the throwing knives that resembled what the kidnappers had that were being held by Spencer and Mikey, to actual 45mm from the Twins and Shane had managed to persuade Dwight to part with his crossbow. It had been an extra burden to carry around but now he looked and felt rather cool.

"Charlie? Is that you?" The faint voice of the freshman who had been out cold up until now, shocked all parties in the room.

Charlie refused to break his gaze from the man with the knives. He would rather die than let any of the boys under his command get hurt. "Hey Laura, don't worry. We are going to get you out of here. Both of you." He tilted his head from side to side before speaking again. "Get them."

The two rather sinister words had a great effect as the rest of the boys came into the room, spreading across the wall, their flashlights attached at the waistband so they weren't burdened with carrying them but they could still see. Shane and Mikey automatically moved towards Bailey and Laura, covering them with the weapons they held while the other boys moved towards the three men who found themselves cornered.

The first man with the knives moved grabbed a knife and, with frightening speed and accuracy, threw it in the direction of Spencer who ducked out of the way. Thank goodness for his reflexes, if he had been a millisecond slower, he would definitely have felt the metal graze against his cheek. In response, Shane, with a slight shake in his hand, aimed the now loaded crossbow at the leg of one of the kidnappers. The instructions had been very clear, shoot to injure, not kill. No one wanted that kind of responsibility on their chests.

The arrow surprisingly hit it's target and the man fell to the floor, yelling in pain, his hand clutched at the sharp object embedded in his upper thigh. The other two hesitated momentarily before they too found themselves screaming in agony as the Twins fired their pistols, a disturbing look of glee on their faces. The three of the men fell to the floor, their faces writhed in pain. The Twins kept their pistols trained on the three men, their faces hardened and no trace of a smile was on their faces, as the rest of the boys went to Bailey and Laura.

"You'll never get them away from here." One of the men snarled as they pulled both of their classmates up, Spencer enveloping Laura in a bone-crushing hug while Derek looked Bailey up and down before patting him on the back reassuringly.

Charlie cocked his head. "You want to bet? We will take them and you won't leave here."

Another of the men snorted. "And how do you suppose you're going to keep us here? This is an abandoned site, no one is going to find us and we can escape easier than you think."

Spencer smirked from where he stood beside Laura as his phone rang, echoing in the small room. "Are you so sure about that? You forget who we are good sir."

As if on cue, an echoing voice surrounded the building, forcing all inside to cover their ears. "Stand down. I repeat, all parties inside the building stand down. We have you surrounded."

The noise of the helicopter could be heard overhead, loud swinging lights from beams much brighter than their flashlights nearly blinded the occupants and suddenly a whole group of people clad in black swarmed into the room, their much larger guns dwarfing whatever the Dalton boys and kidnappers had. They trained their weapons on the three men who couldn't disguise their fear as an older gentleman stepped into the room; surveying it with the same cold eyes he had given his son.

Spencer smiled slightly as the man came over to him. "Sir." He snapped a respectful salute and General Willis met his son's greeting.

"Are you alright son?" He asked gently. "Are Bailey and Laura okay?"

Spencer looked to his friends before nodding. "I'm fine, I think they are too. Just very cold."

General Paxton Willis looked at his son, the boy had grown up faster than he would have liked but he was proud. He was proud to have a son who had taken matters into his own hands and gone after the enemy without the need for a leader, he had become the leader. He nodded to the team he had come with. "Take these men away." He looked to Spencer. "You and your friends are coming with me. We need to get your friends to the hospital and you back to school."

Spencer nodded. "Yes sir."

A small voice came from Spencer's left. "I just want to go back to school sir." Laura's timid and shaky voice spoke up from the shadows as she tried to speak with more confidence. "I just want to see Justin, I want to know he's alright."

General Willis knelt down on one knee to look at the short girl who looked at him right in the eye. "It's Laura isn't it?" He spoke gently; she reminded him of Rich an awful lot. She nodded. "I'll make sure that Justin is the first person to know where you are. He can come and see you as soon as the doctors give the all clear that you're not in any medical danger. Does that sound alright?"

He knew he sounded as if he was speaking to a seven year old, he remembered saying the same thing to Sydney when she was seven, when another accident had happened, one that neither she nor him nor Spencer had had any control over. Perhaps that was why he had been so desperate to get help. So that she could get the help Spencer had feared would never come.

He looked back to his team. "Let's move out."

* * *

**Aw! Our babies have been rescued!**

**We have a final chapter of which I am very proud of so do go ahead and read that in about 4 minutes and I do hope that you have enjoyed reading this story!**

**Happy writing,**

**PenMagic x**


	11. A Final Farewell and Roses

**And would you look at that, we have reached the final chapter of Smoke Before Fire. I will do all my huge thank yous at the bottom because I am sure that you want to get on and see what happens to our gallant heroes. Plus there's a tidbit at the end as a precursor to a certain set of events any Jogan fans DO NOT SPEAK OF! Well, actually any fans of Dalton do not speak about without tearing up in some way...**

**Enjoy my friends!**

* * *

_1 Month Later._

The wrought iron gates of Dalton Academy had played host to many a television camera crew, many a reporter who was curious to see the events that had unfolded at the school. They had groaned and complained under the weight of the press the school was getting, especially the students that lay inside it.

But now it lay silent. They were closed and had no plan to open any time soon. The grounds lay silent, as if there was no one in the school. Birds chirped in the air, filling the icy cold blue air with a silence that didn't seem like it belonged there. The grass was wet with the dew that was beginning to dry up in the mid-morning air that was chilly enough for anyone walking there to see their breath but warm enough for anyone to stand without the need for a coat. A thick jumper yes, but no coat.

The sunken courtyard found the first occupant of the school. He sat on one of the highest steps of courtyard, looking down at the area that was now desolate. He could see the paths trodden by students in the days before in the sandy base. What were they going to say? Standing up, he wiped down his trousers; careful to make sure there were no stains on the black creased trousers he wore every day. Straightening his tie, he folded down the collar of his shirt and adjusted his blazer so it fitted more comfortably on his shoulders.

Doing up the two buttons on his blazer; he looked around him at the serenity that surrounded him. And for once, Todd Hendricks felt at peace. Sure there had been repercussions for his actions, only at the insistence of his friends and surprisingly especially Bailey and Laura, he had not been handed over to the police where he would have been tried as a minor for accessory to kidnapping. Only a handful of students knew who the mole was, only a handful of them would ever knew and it had been a slow and painful process to even begin to get them to trust him again.

But now, now he felt better. It was as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He wasn't at the mercy of the men who had killed his parents, they were safely locked up and he would never see them again with any luck. There was no need to worry for now. He could continue to write for the newspaper, he could live in Windsor with a smile on his face. It was the mercy and grace of Blaine and Charlie that had encouraged the other boys who knew to also become cordial towards him. Perhaps the next two and half years at Dalton wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

Just because the outside grounds of Dalton held no signs of life other than Todd, did not mean the same for inside. Charlie ran a hand through his hair as he sat in the common room of Hanover House, nursing a strong black coffee.

It felt almost strange that his heart wasn't pounding at one hundred miles an hour, that he wasn't terrified about what was going to happen to his boys, that he wasn't yelling at Drew and Satoru for their new experiments. No, Hanover was his sanctuary and he was happy to leave Blaine in charge for a couple of hours.

Leaning his head against the back of the sofa, he closed his eyes as he merely listened to the conversation. It was tranquility to know that the whole debacle over the kidnapping and then the events of the Valentine's Day Fair were over. Now all that he had to worry about next was Hell Night and then finals. Huh, he snorted, that was all he had to worry about.

Plus he had to find a boy willing to be Windsor Prefect next year. While Lancaster, Stuart and Hanover took great pride in choosing their Prefects, the boys who were given the roles were ecstatic to be given the title, Windsor was most certainly another issue altogether. No one wanted the role. Sure he had several decent candidates in mind from the junior year, but only time would tell who could settle into the role. No, despite his worries and concerns, he was convinced he would be leaving Windsor in capable hands at the end of May.

His floating thoughts were interrupted as he picked up on the conversation that Merrill and Danny were having. "I just don't know where's it's gone." Merrill was sighing.

Charlie sat up with interest, not another disappearance. "What's gone missing?" He asked.

Merrill sighed as she glanced at him with a frown on her face. "One of the kitchen knives, one of the bread knives. I know it seems silly but I've looked all over the place and I just hope that one of our more…" she paused, looking for the right word, "sensitive boys hasn't caught it."

Danny shook his head with a small smile. "Don't fret Merrill, we'll make sure it's found, it can't have gone far."

Charlie nodded his agreement. "My boys borrow stuff all the time from the kitchen. Just put up a general notice asking the person to return it, nice and simple."

He took another sip of his coffee, letting the caffeine slide down his throat and warm him up. He wasn't quite sure what it was that unnerved him about what Merrill said, but there was something that didn't quite sit well with was a normal thing to happen, boys made food in their rooms all the time. But something in the back of his mind said something different, that the fact that it was odd was cause enough to be on the look out, to be more alert for his Hanover friends. Charlie sighed, just when he thought he had it that much easier for the next couple of weeks before Hell Night set in.

* * *

A guard, really? Bailey was almost sick of the fact that he couldn't go anywhere alone. There were times when Logan was scary, read when he was angry and it was terrifying. There were times when he was a great leader, when he was in charge of the retaliation attacks against Windsor or when he would demonstrate his Warbler skills to perfection. There were times when he could even be called nice, those were rare and treasured occasions but they still existed. And then there were the times when Logan was an overbearing mother hen who was paranoid about the boys he was in charge of.

And this was one of them. For goodness sake, it was only a question of going to dinner! It was 7pm; he had survived the onslaught of the day's work and another night's sleep. Yes he was suffering from nightmares; he couldn't recall a night when he hadn't since the events of the last month. But this? There was a limit to how much he could tolerate. As he opened the door fully, in full uniform and ready to take the evening in his stride, he smiled at Derek who was standing outside. Derek had a small smile on his face; he liked Bailey well enough and knew that if he could count on anyone to carry Stuart on in their absence when they graduated, it would be Bailey. He had confidence in the boy and while the job Logan had asked of his friends was indeed tedious, he could tolerate it until Logan's phase passed.

Bailey frowned slightly as he closed the door and locked his room. His guards usually came in twos and either Logan himself or the diva that was Julian Larson, even less pleasant company than Logan, usually accompanied Derek. "Is Logan finally letting up then?" He queried as he gave the junior a small nod and they started to walk towards the entrance to Stuart House.

Derek pursued his lips and shook his head slightly. "Julian had a nasty incident last night. His stalker is getting closer and Logan's worried sick about him."

Bailey frowned. Julian's stalker had become the new worry of Stuart House, no one knew what to make of it and Bailey was on the verge of suggesting they went to Han to get footage of entrance to Stuart over the last couple of weeks. But they were too full of pride to ask for Windsor's help and he knew it. Perhaps he could have a word with Han. "What happened? Is Julian hurt?"

While Bailey wasn't particularly fond of Julian, he cared about his fellow housemates, however obnoxious they were. Derek shook his head. "It isn't my place to tell you Bailey, Julian's in a state of shock. Won't let anyone see him but me. And he insisted that I came to escort you to dinner." Bailey raised an eyebrow, the diva wasn't being selfish? "Julian that is, not Logan. You know, he may be a diva but he has got a heart. He knows what it's like to feel like you might be attacked at any moment. Perhaps, despite what he says, he does care. None of us are prefect." He sighed. "No matter how much other people want us to believe."

* * *

Despite the turrets and cone shaped domes that topped a lot of Windsor House, there were a few flat roofs that any curious Windsor boy, of which there were several, would be able to find. They were accessible of course, how else would they be able to hold midnight stakeouts of other houses where the faculty weren't able to find them.

But right now, as the sun began to set and the tinges of pink and orange mixed in with the greying clouds and blue sky, two boys sat up on the rooftop, doing none of the things that the Windsor rooftop was normally used for. A picnic blanket was spread out on a small slatted roof part, small cushions were placed on the smoother parts of the blanket and a medium sized wicker basket was placed in the middle. Kurt and Blaine lay back on the blanket, a plate of cucumber sandwiches and a large tumbler of lemonade between them. It wasn't dinner; neither of them was acknowledging this as a meal.

But there was a peace that was beautiful and wonderful, it filled every inch of the air and was a chance for them both to breathe. In the stifling and sweltering heat of the classrooms and the enormous pressure that was put on the boys to be safe, never more so than now, and to do as best as they could in their academics. To achieve perfection. Here on the rooftop, there was no need for perfection; they could be as free as they wanted to be. They could shout, they could jump and sing, they could forget all about work. And that was exactly what Kurt and Blaine planned to do. Too much had happened to them both in the last month to think about work.

The two boys lay back, their heads resting against the cushions that stopped it from being so uncomfortable. "Is it just me or does it feel strangely quiet?" Kurt murmured after a moment.

Blaine turned his head to look at Kurt. "In Windsor or in Dalton? Because the answer to both is yes, it is weirdly quiet."

Kurt smiled slightly as he tilted his head to look at the sky. "I like it. It isn't often you get a quiet that isn't borne out of fear or stress."

There was a moment of silence as the two boys just watched the clouds go past, their breaths evening out. After a few moments, Blaine spoke again. "At least all we have to worry about is Hell Night."

Kurt frowned. "Hell Night? That sounds a little dramatic."

Blaine snorted. "The most accurate title really. It's Parents' Night on the school calendar, but we all call it Hell Night. At least two things go horribly wrong every year, whether it is our fault or not."

Kurt turned onto his side to look at Blaine, an elegantly raised eyebrow. "Plus you owe me the next chapter of the story with you and Logan."

Blaine sighed dramatically. "Can't that wait just for a little while longer Kurt? Let's just enjoy this moment. It isn't often we will get a moment like this again."

Kurt smiled, he could do that. He could live in this bliss forever. But bliss couldn't last forever and something told him it most certainly wouldn't last.

* * *

And on the other side of campus, on the top of another House, another boy was lying on the top of his house. He breathed deeply, his eyes scanning the sky for the stars that were going to be peeking through soon. Those first hints of another day ending and a new one waiting to dawn. He was ready for that.

He sat up carefully, letting his small figure slip into the grooves as he settled in for another cold night. He didn't have long, he never thought he had and now with Parents' Night approaching, he had to do it sooner rather than later. He rolled the thin green stem between his fingers, ignoring with ease the small pricks that cut into his hands as the thorns turned with the stem. Stopping after a minute or so, he reached and pinched a red petal in between two fingers. Pulling softly, he plucked the rose petal from its bud and dropped it over the edge, watching with a small smile as it floated down to the front step of Hanover House.

Adam Clavell broadened his smile as he let petal after petal fall. This was what power felt like. The kidnapping had just been the tip of the iceberg; it had been the smoke before the fire. Now let the school burn, burn and crumble, as it should.

* * *

**Now this is the point usually where the author says 'You'll have to wait until the sequel to find out what happens' but this is a Big Bang of Dalton by CP Coulter and therefore there is no need for such a statement as we all know perfectly well what happens.**

**Oh wow, I can't believe that this is the end. It has been a crazy and mad two and a half months, ever since I decided to participate in the Big Bang.**

**HUMONGOUS thank yous go to CP Coulter for writing this incredible story, my AMAZING Beta Jay and my INSANELY talented artist Julia who have kept me going and given me such helpful feedback and support throughout the process. If you want to see Julia's artwork for my story, go and check daltonbigbang on tumblr and on the master post, you'll find it!**

**Big thank you to the beautiful characters of Dalton, they formed my story and it was the underdogs who made the bigger appearance here and that was deliberate. Sometimes it's the less recognised who do the most to help.**

**And thanks to you, if you've stayed with me to the end.**

**Signing out for the last time on Smoke Before Fire,**

**PenMagic x**


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